Warframe: Penance
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Penance has been done in many ways. It has been done by many, for many reasons. It is voluntary and often public. That said, it has also been abused just as humans have abused everything throughout history. Tenno do things a bit differently. This is a fanfiction. I own no rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Consequences**

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help?"

It was not ever day that a high caste Orokin said such words, but then again, Brianna Executor was _not_ by _any_ stretch of the imagination, a 'normal' Orokin. If of course, such had ever existed at all. She had her doubts.

"I am all right, Brianna." The woman who stood in front of her looked nothing like the Tenno she had known, but that was to be expected. The events that had happened had shaken any number of Tenno institutions badly and while the results had been fairly good by most accounts, there were always going to be consequences for such things. There were many people who were trying to find her now, for fair reasons and foul. The woman she had known and liked most of the time had paid a heavy price for following her heart in addition to her orders, but Karen wouldn't have had it any other way. Instead of answering, Brianna crossed her arms and glared at the other who sighed but did not give an inch. "I am all right." Karen repeated.

"How the hell can you be all right?" Brianna demanded. "_I_ am not and it didn't happen to _me!_" She shook her head. "They had no right to cast you out for following your orders!"

"Brianna…." Karen said softly but stilled as Brianna reached out to her. Futile as such was. This was all virtual and if Karen didn't want to be touched? She wouldn't be. "I knew they would. I disobeyed."

"Yes, you did and in doing so, you saved us all from the Artemis' wrath." Briana did not retract her hand even as Karen stared at her. "I have talked with the Empress. I delivered the scum Lorinos to her as she wished." She muttered something about 'not what I wished'. Karen shook her head, but Brianna wasn't done. "I know who you serve now and I can accept that. I don't like it, but I can understand and I have no choice but to accept it."

"Thank you." Karen said slowly but Brianna wasn't finished.

"I do not know what you will have to do and I probably do not want to know." Karen shook her head at the Orokin's biting tone. "But I will say this- You were my friend before this. I still count you my friend." Karen stiffened but again, Brianna wasn't done. "That is unlikely to change, Karen. It may, but I have no intention of letting you disappear. If you or yours need medical attention or a safe place to sleep for a night, you have but to call."

"Brianna." Karen's voice turned flat. "Your hospice is filled with sick kids. There is _no way_ we would put them in danger."

"This tower is a lot bigger than the hospice." Brianna retorted. "You of all people know how big the Orokin built their hidey holes." She shook her head when Karen did. "Tell Lynn she is welcome any time."

"Brianna!" Karen protested, but the Orokin continued again.

"I know about hard choices, Karen." The golden skinned woman said with a growl. "I know about being screwed over by people I trusted. Once I trusted Lorinos and then I trusted Daniel. Both times I got screwed over. What I did, I can never undo. Will is better, but he will never be the Tenno I hurt so long ago. Kori is dead. Will should have killed me, but he didn't. _Alicia_ should have killed me, but _she_ didn't. I had a chance to repay the debts I owed and that was a good thing. Now? I am in charge of a whole tower filled with non-combatants." She made a face. "Small wonder so many neural sentries went bonkers."

"You do good work, Brianna." Karen said very quietly. "Let no one say otherwise."

"It doesn't feel enough sometimes." Brianna let her hand drop and looked at the floor. "The kids from Venus make me wish I could still get drunk easily."

"Lissandra's… um… siblings." Karen said delicately and Brianna nodded. "Whatever happened to the spider bot?"

"That is under discussion." Brianna's voice turned flat as she looked up to meet Karen's eyes again. "She wanted to stay with Lissandra, but that was never going to happen, and I think she knew it. I am toying with the idea of bringing her here." Karen's eyes widened and she started to protest, but Brianna cut her off. "I _know!_ It has been said a whole lot of ways by a whole lot of people. I _know._"

"Considering that bot was a slave to Nef Anyo and we all know how sneaky and evil the nutcase was and is..." Karen said slowly when Brianna's ire ran down. "Not to mention who else is in the tower with you now. Can we take the chance?"

"I talked with Cassandra a little during one of the virtual interrogations. She is a nurse, not a murderer. Mentally? She is a mess and no mistake. Tanah and I could help her." Brianna said with a growl. "But the Clergy won't allow it. They have her in custody."

"What? Oh. Their conflict with Anyo is not resolved is it?" Karen asked delicately. Brianna shook her head. "And..."

"And he is being an idiot! He should really surrender." Brianna snapped. "No matter how indoctrinated or fanatic his people may be, they cannot fight _fight_ what they cannot _find! _In a bit, his mad faith will be _all_ he has left. For some incredibly convoluted guideline reason, they apparently cannot kill_ him_, but they _can_ make him a pauper."

"My heart bleeds." Karen retorted dryly enough that Brianna smiled.

"Mine too." Brianna sighed deeply and relaxed. "Seriously, Karen, my offer stands. I am not Tenno. I am not bound by their Code. I can set up a section of the tower for your people if you so wish. I know there are others who are trying to make contact for various reasons and I can make it private even from me. No one will be able to tell if you are here or not. Not even me."

"That means a lot, Brianna." Karen said soberly. "It does hurt, being cast out. Getting shot was more a surprise than pain. He was trying to disable me, not kill me. But that hurts too."

"He adopted you! Of _course_ it hurts! Talk to someone about that. Soon." Brianna said firmly. "You of all people know what happens when you let such things fester."

"I am scheduled with Lynn in an hour to talk about it." Karen said with a small, sad smile. "There is a lot I cannot say, but I can say this: I consider you a friend as well. That paints a big red target on you, Brianna." Brianna just looked at her and Karen made a face. "I know that Kat won't leave your side and anyone dumb enough to harm her will get what they deserve, but I will worry."

"She makes one heck of a secretary." Brianna said with a smile. "She is making this place hum with far more than power." Her face fell. "I may need to consult Lynn at some point. Olim, Quais and Jesse have all been incredibly helpful, but I worry about Abigail. She is so bright, but she doesn't understand the consequences of some things."

"Tell me she hasn't hacked the _tower!_" Karen said quickly.

"No." Brianna reassured the other. "Close, but not quite. She tried to hack one of the subsidiary systems and my security reacted." She made a face as Karen paled. "No harm done in the end but she won't make that mistake again."

"Is she-?" Karen broke off whatever she was going to say and sighed. "She is bored."

"Yes, she is." Brianna heaved a sigh of her own. "She and Mary are both bored, but both of them are far too fragile to send out anywhere else. Abigail still needs healing and Mary..." Brianna looked at the floor. "That girl has no quit in her. That is the only reason she survived." Karen swallowed and Brianna nodded. "That is why I need to talk to Lynn. She has seen far more than I have. Maybe… Maybe she can help."

"Mary? How bad is it?" Karen asked very softly.

"Every time she starts getting better, she has another seizure." Brianna's tone wasn't much louder. "I have done everything I know, everything I have been able to research. Iriana has done everything she can and… I fear it isn't enough." Karen looked devastated and Brianna nodded. "I don't know everything that happened. Tanah says that odd things happened to her, but he can't talk about them. He too says she should be getting better."

"And she is not." Karen's voice was barely a whisper and Brianna nodded. "Lynn won't take that well."

"About as well as _I_ am." Brianna admitted. "About as well as _Iriana_ is." Her facade of stoic power cracked and a scared, hurting woman showed underneath for a moment. "I miss Amelia. She would know what to do."

"You know what she would do." Karen said firmly. "You saw her work often enough. She would call in specialists. Put the girl in stasis if needed. She would not ignore her feelings, but she would set them aside until she had done everything she could."

"Yeah." Brianna gave herself a shake. "I have inquired for specialists from various places. Janet and Ess have said they too will inquire, but they have to be careful."

"Ess?" Karen had stiffened and Brianna nodded. The Marine and former Tenno growled. "You know the rules, Brianna."

"I do." Brianna replied in a similar tone. "I am searching for any possible treatment for the girl, but she would not forgive me if I went too far, hence why I asked _Janet and Ess_ to ask instead of _Kat._" Karen's eyes widened slightly and then she nodded. Kat loved Mary too and she had some very odd resources. "I am not stupid Karen. I know the limits and I have no intention of letting _another_ pitched extra-reality battle happen in my tower. The Oracles will be careful."

"The ones who came to help Kat surprised the hell out of the Sentients." Karen said, relaxing.

"Those crazy beings blew _three __entire __floors_ into scrap metal." Brianna retorted, face sick. Karen shared it. It wasn't every day one met human looking people who could blow Orokin built walls -and Sentients! - into twisted wreckage without apparently trying. "Hunhow wasn't the only one surprised. We are still finding damage but repairing it is straightforward at least."

"I will tell Lynn." Karen promised. "She will want to try and help. I know that about her without even asking, but we have to be careful." Yes, the being who had once been the First Trinity would want to try and heal. It was who and what she had been for so long. She was _not_ the First Trinity now and that grated a lot of people. What was more? Lynn wasn't sure she considered herself Tenno and Brianna had no idea how that was going to play out.

"Yes, you do." Brianna agreed. "Nikis and Rachel have both asked if I can set up some kind of communication with your group since I am basically neutral, but I have put them off. This mess with the Clergy and others has set all of my plans askew." Her face turned sick again. "The Reverend Mother left a representative as well. She is apparently trying to find a way to apologize to Liriel."

"I wish her luck." Karen's face might have been sculpted from iron. "Lynn told us what happened. It was… bad."

"Yeah." Brianna looked at the floor. "Eleven young lives snuffed out. The Clergy didn't know what Liriel was. Trinity thought she was dead or brain-dead. The Tenno, likewise. They couldn't save her, so they tried to make kittens from her. Trinity was apparently sworn not to say what Liriel was and Alicia didn't know. They were trying to do good and they did horrific evil. I can't blame her for being upset."

"The word 'upset' does not do the Queen of Cats' feelings justice." Karen said quietly. "No one who knows the facts blames her in the slightest. That said, if she ever meets Tenno Alicia or Falcon in the flesh, they will die." She warned.

Even Zarimon children were not proof against the Queen of Cats' rage and power. Energy for or no, if the kavat queen met those she considered enemy? She would be hurt, _they_ would be _dead_.

"I know." Brianna swallowed hard. "Alicia is coming here." Karen stilled anew and Brianna nodded. "She wants to do penance. Both for what happened to Liriel and what happened to Lissandra. Tenno are no more perfect than humans or Orokin, but most expected her to suicide."

"Will wouldn't let her." Karen's words were statement, not question. Brianna nodded.

"He said it wasn't honorable, her seeking an end that way without even trying to atone." Brianna mused. "I can see his point, but she was very unhappy with him."

"Alicia is damned good at what she does." Karen was trying hard to be fair and Brianna nodded. "That said, she messed up big time. Both with Liriel and Lissandra."

"Agreed." Brianna replied. "I will keep an eye on them, but I do need the help. Even with all of my retainers, I cannot be everywhere. I do need to sleep." She made a face. "Not that my dreams are pleasant unless I cheat." Orokin had all kinds of ways to cheat such, technological, pharmaceutical, the list went on and on, but all had consequences.

"Do you need help?" Karen asked. "Lynn will ask."

"Probably." Brianna said in a very small voice. "I never wanted this, Karen. I just wanted to make up for what I did to Will, Kori and Alicia."

"You didn't do anything to Alicia." Karen said sternly. "Do not take more on yourself than is your to bear. Believe me, I understand all about that now."

"I would have, if Daniel had given me time." Brianna gave herself a shake. "The past is past. We can run from it or learn from it. I fully intend never to repeat the same mistakes. Call me anytime you wish and I will see about replying this way."

"I will pass your offer up my chain of command." Karen said with a small frown. "They may be in touch, they may not. You know how it is."

"Vsedga veren." Brianna said with a smile that Karen shared. 'Always true' in an imperfect translation of an ancient language. The battle cry and motto of the Orokin marine spetsnatz, the special operations team of a highly specialized fighting force. Scary, dangerous, all of that and as well probably the safest place for Karen and the young soul she warded.

"Vsedga veren."

The hologram of the woman who looked nothing like Tenno Karen vanished and Brianna focused her feelings, trying to regain her equilibrium. Calm was needed in her tower. There was precious little of it at times. So many hurt kids, but only a few of them were in danger now, thanks to Brianna's ultra high technology and so many falling all over themselves to help. There were some who simply could not be helped.

Case in point…

"Brianna Executor." Brianna fought hard not to sigh as she came back to herself to find Kieko kneeling nearby. Despite her wishes and many people having problems with it, Kieko had sworn to Brianna's service. Brianna herself had massive problems with it, but Kieko hadn't budged. Her first clear memory after her horror had been Brianna's kindness. She rose even before Brianna opened her mouth. "The floor is actually comfortable, Mistress."

"Just because I cannot find a slave protocol inside your mind doesn't mean he didn't put one in there." Brianna snapped as she stood. Kieko did not recoil this time. "You are not my slave, Kieko. Do not act such."

"To me, the floor is more comfortable than the chairs, Mist-" Kieko broke off as Brianna growled at her. '"Apologies. _Brianna_." She carefully said the Orokin female's name. The discussion about her calling Brianna 'Mistress' had been both long and loud.

"I..." Brianna forced herself to relax. "Yes. I guess it would be." She admitted as Kieko looked at her oddly."'You spent a lot of your previous life in prayer. That is usually done kneeling. But I find it abhorrent to see you kneeling before _me_, Kieko. Please don't treat me like a goddess."

Some Orokin had reveled in the ideal of immortal, omniscient rulers on high. The stories, most horror filled, boggled the mind. Brianna had seen some of that first hand and promised herself never to act that way. It never ended well, especially for a mental healer. Now, if she had been a ruthless, heartless evil scum like the previous owner of the tower? Things might have been different. She wasn't him and wouldn't be if she had anything to say about it.

"I will do my best, Ma'am." Kieko smiled when Brianna made a face, but it was comical. Kieko normally defaulted to 'employee' since so many of the other humans who had taken her service offer were former Corpus. They had been caught up in the fight between Brianna and Lorinos and she had been stuck with six living breathing Corpus troops who she refused to subvert. Instead? She had _hired_ them. Violet came and went as she willed, considered friend by both Brianna and Kat, but she was bound by her oaths to the Corpus Special Forces.

"What is it now?" Brianna asked, relaxing as best she could.

"Gerald's team found a cryopod on floor Sixty Seven, Quadrant Theta, Ma'am." Kieko had tensed and Brianna did the same. "An occupied one."

"Tell me they didn't touch it!" Brianna felt fear rise. Lorinos had been evil incarnate in so many ways. What he had done to her, to Kieko, to so many humans, had boggled the mind and Brianna hoped that whatever the Empress did to him would be both _painful_ and _long_. It could not possibly be enough to make up for all the lives he had casually snuffed out, but it would ease her own mind a bit.

"No, Ma'am." Kieko reassured her. "They did as you instructed, scanned from a distance. There is one thing, however."

"Oh?" Brianna inquired as she started for the door of her far too large and luxurious quarters. Every attempt she had made to move to alternate, smaller quarters had been ignored by the tower and she had always woken in this room. Annoying.

"The readings are clear, Ma'am." Kieko looked worried and Brianna felt her heart plummet. "The occupant is Tenno."

"Oh dear."


	2. Chapter 2

**Responses**

Brianna Executor was many things. She had been a top flight mental physician for most of her existence and still considered herself such. She loved to help people who had problems. She always had, she always would. Her focus was the mind and she was, without any conceit, very good at helping people deal with mind problems. Now, she was an Executor. The highest rank caste in the Orokin's golden empire. It had not been her choice to become such, but as always, she had stepped up when responsibility had dropped on her. She had assumed the role, with both its perks and its burdens.

This was firmly in the _latter_ category.

"Stop scaring my retainers."

The voice was mild, but the look she shot the pitch black Nekros who stood by the cryopod was anything but mild. He had arrived in answer to her call for help and she was sort of happy to see Nikis. Sort of. Very few were happy to see the asshole gunfighter. Especially after he started to talk. She hadn't really expected anything less. The other Tenno who had come when she had called were all arrayed by one wall, weapons at the ready, but Nikis as always was a law until himself. He had been amusing himself while scanning the pod by telling probably fantastical stories about other cryopods he had seen that were both humorous and terrifying. More than one of Briana's shade pack were crying. Not that surprising, considering that some of them had been very young when slain by Lorinos and turned into energy forms against their will. One more thing to lay at the feet of the Empress as a charge against the former owner of the tower. Not that Eliza needed any more reason to hate the scum. Brianna's pack _defined_ the word 'odd' but she was its alpha, its leader. She would not let Nikis scare her little ones. Nikis looked at her, but before he could speak, someone else did.

"Nikis." Kat was a far cry from the terrified, hurting being that Brianna had first seen. Brianna had spent a lot of time with Kat now and she liked the woman. Kat reciprocated even though both knew there would never be anything more than friendship there. Kat had blossomed in Brianna's care and turned into a force to be reckoned with all on her own. She wasn't Orokin or Tenno or even human, not really. That was not a topic for discussion. Ever. It didn't matter. She was one of the few beings in the Solar System who Nikis stepped aside for. Small wonder. He had wronged her very badly, all unknowing. He couldn't change what he had done, but he did listen when she spoke. Mostly. This _was_ Nikis after all.

"Sorry." More than one surprised sound came from the surrounding area as Nikis apologized! That rarely happened. Brianna was not quite as shocked. She knew more than most about what Nikis had faced, what he had endured and survived due to talks with him and Iriana. She would never betray his confidence though. For one thing, it would be unethical. For another? _Dangerous._

"You are who you are, Grandmaster." Brianna nodded acceptance of his apology. "I know better than to try and get you to change. But please? Tone it down a little?" She waved and a pair of tiny gray shades ran to her. She couldn't quite touch them even with all of her high tech wizardry, but she could offer comfort and she did. The others felt it though their pack mates and calm spread through the pack. "At least we can keep the other kids away."

"No joke." Nikis allowed as the black Nekros stepped back from the cryopod that stood like a huge decoration in the middle of the plaza. Odd that such a thing was sitting out in the middle of a large, open space surrounded by balconies and a set of low walls with laser emitters attached, but according to many, that was typical. He shook his head as Brianna looked a question at him. "I can't find anything wrong with it."

"If Lorinos had a cryopod with a Tenno in it here, then you very well know _something_ will be wrong." Brianna said sourly enough that Nikis laughed.

"Yeah, probably." Nikis replied as he moved to stand between Kat and the pod. "I ain't seen much right come out of his work."

"No." Brianna sighed deeply and nodded to the shades who retreated back into the mass of swirling gray energy that was her pack. They were calmer now. That was good. They couldn't do much in the real world, but she detested hurting people. Well, except for Lorinos who she did not consider 'people'. She was also almost fundamentally incapable of passing by a being in pain without at least trying to help. A common trait in healers. "I keep hoping to be surprised, but… No."

No one besides the Empress would _ever_ know the true depths of depravity and horror that Brianna had found in the tower. No one _could_. Not even Brianna's pack knew all of the secret crannies and hidden rooms. That was a very good thing. They had enough problems being what they were without Lorinos' evil mixed in. She gave herself a stern shake. "Any oddities that you can detect? I can sense none."

"No." Nikis replied but he was tense. "You know what this probably is and if so? It's gonna be a problem."

"_Who_ it is, Nikis." Brianna corrected him absently as she scrutinized the pod. "Who, not what. Lorinos was cast out but before that, he was a member of the Council of Executors." She bit her lip gently as she thought hard. "He wielded power on par with the Emperor. So, it stands to reason that the same kind of person who served _other_ Executor Council members that we know of served Lorinos, at least somewhat." Considering that Tenno Diana of the Karl's Shadow clan had been a _master_ _assassin_ working for an Executor… Oh yes. Problem. "If this is the same kind of being, this one probably won't react well to all that has happened." More than one person winced, but all nodded.

"No records have been found that say who might have taken the service." A new voice spoke up and everyone looked to where a Trinity Prime warframe stood. Isha was still far from healed, but she had taken the oath and served did as Tenno always had. Or at least as most assumed Tenno always had. Recent events had shown glaring holes in what had been assumed to be Tenno history. She was here in an official role. Rachel was busy and no one wanted to find out what would happen if an unknown ran into the Caretakers without warning. Especially an unknown who might very well be an assassin who had been working for the nutcase Orokin who had lived here. "We consulted various others and they found no records either. So, either it was a secret even from the Royal Family or the records were lost. What can you tell us, Grandmaster?"

"Lost or the records were _made_ to be lost." Nikis said sourly. "Wouldn't be the first time such happened." The ancient Guardian shook his head. "Not a lot I can say without seeing who it is. I might know him or her, I might not. Didn't know every Tenno."

That was simple truth. Nikis might be the eldest known living Tenno, but he was one being. He had done a lot, seen a lot in his unfathomably long lifespan, but he hadn't been everywhere, seen everything or everyone. There were a number of reasons for that. Some were good, some were bad.

"So… We have to open it?" Brianna asked and Nikis nodded. She turned to another Tenno who had not spoken and nodded to Diana. The assassin stood near an exit, as always planning for battle or escape. "If it is a servant of Lorinos, what are the chances I can talk him or her down?" She was careful in what she said and how. She might not be Tenno herself, but she had lived with them. She would not betray Diana's secrets, such as they were. Diana slowly shook her head.

"That depends on his or her role." Diana said after a moment's thought. "If it is a bodyguard? Likely. If it something else? I don't know." She admitted. "There were procedures for such, but I am honestly leery about trusting anything Lorinos had to do with."

"You and me _both_. If they are bound by procedure, are they likely to attack on sight?" Brianna pressed and Diana shook her head. "Well, that is something."

"Not much." Nikis grunted as he moved to stand beside Brianna. She looked at him and he shrugged. "Your tower. Your call. You want us to, we can take him somewhere else, wake him there."

"'Him'?" Brianna inquired, turning to scrutinize the pod.

"Yeah." Nikis sounded less than confident but then nodded. "Feels like a him. Not much else I can sense. Not familiar."

Brianna slowly shook her head and then she took a step towards the pod. Nikis kept pace with her, but no one else moved. She continued until she was standing right beside the large oblong thing. She had easily the best protections of anyone in the plaza but possibly Nikis. Indeed, her personal shields rivaled some capital class starships for power!

"This is likely the safest place." Brianna said quietly. Nikis looked at her and she shook her head. "I am not indispensable, Grandmaster."

"You are also very different from almost every high caste Orokin I dealt with." Nikis allowed, just as quietly. "Your pack may go on if anything happens to you, but Janet for one would miss ya, so do not do anything dumb." Brianna stared at him and he shrugged. "Go on."

There was a lot many people would never know about the crazy being who inhabited the pitch black Nekros warframe. He played the evil jerk so well that everyone assumed he simply was one. Very few people knew that was role he had adopted to keep people from pestering him to death. Being ancient was no picnic. A few of the stories he had told her and Iriana made her want to break down and cry but there were so many more about people who would not leave him alone, who wanted his support for stuff. Or some of the less intelligent had taken to pestering him for his supposed riches. Old had to equal rich, right? He had finally just taken to shooting them to get them to stop bothering him. It was fast and efficient if less than polite so Brianna could understand. She herself had received more than her share of telemarketer calls when she had been younger, so she could only imagine someone with Nikis' age and power had received far more and far more pushy. _She_ had been tempted to find and shoot a few of those herself, so she totally understood Nikis' reaction. He took it _far_ further than _anyone_ else she had ever met, but still…

"Here goes nothing." Brianna muttered as golden power answered her call. The tower all but hummed as always with a need to please her. She was in every way, its sole mistress. Even the scum who had called it home since the Collapse hadn't been able to access everything that she could. The tower, feeling her apprehension, solidified around her shields before it reached out to the cryopod and touched it in a way she had been told about but had never had reason to use. Iriana had worked in a cryo facility on occasion. Brianna never had. She hadn't been trusted enough and then? She had been a prisoner, serving her time in a prison that was far kinder than most would have believed. Tenno could be incredibly hard but they were rarely cruel just to do it. Nikis often was, but he was usually given cause to be. Usually.

The Orokin female did not react as the cryopod split open and a warframe fell out to land on the floor. In a dedicated facility, it would have been opened horizontally so such did not happen. This was not a dedicated facility. Brianna examined the warframe by sight and passive sensor. In form, it was an Excalibur warframe. It did not seem to have any weapons on its person, but warframes _were_ weapons. Excalibur warframes were incredibly dangerous even if they did not have-

Scratch that! The holsters for Spira Prime throwing blades on each hip had Brianna stiffening. He was! He _was_ a Rectifier! A master assassin posted to one of the Council of Executors. The two of those who had been encountered so far _defined_ the word 'dangerous'. She fought hard not to move as a groan sounded from the warframe.

"How… How long?" The sleepy voice from the warframe was young. Very young. It was also familiar but not!

"A very long time." Brianna kept herself calm by sheer force of will. She was in a great deal of danger here and now. Those blades were designed to pass through Orokin shields. Her garment was armored, but against such a blade thrown by a Tenno? About as much protection as ancient wood pulp paper would be. "We do not know when you went into stasis."

"What?" The warframe looked up and froze on seeing Brianna standing there. His gaze slowly swept the area, lighting on Nikis for a long moment. The gunfighter had his pistols in hand and everyone else who was corporeal had weapons in hand. When the Tenno in the Excalibur warframe spoke again, it was sour. "Oh, what has he done _now?_"

The tone was odd. He wasn't happy, but not with all the weapons aimed at him! The words spoke of long and uncomfortable history with Lorinos. Knowing the evil Orokin as Brianna had, she knew all too well the depths that the golden being had sunk to.

"If you speak of Lorinos Orokin, he transgressed most sorely. If there is a single Orokin rule he didn't break, I cannot find it." Brianna found refuge in ancient Orokin. Everyone here understood it. "He is currently explaining to the Empress of Orokin his desire to take her place."

Everyone jerked as the Excalibur on the floor laughed!

"It is about _freaking time!_" The warframe rolled slowly and sat up, careful to keep his hands in plain view and away from his knives. Diana had hers ready. "That guy really had it coming." He did not sound like a slave. If anything, he sounded relieved! The Tenno in the warfame heaved a sigh and nodded to Brianna. "You took the tower from him?"

"Yes." Brianna kept her tone calm and cool as the ancient warrior in the bio-armor scrutinized her. Then he looked around, still careful not to move anything else.

"And… You work with Tenno." His gaze lit on Diana, but he did not comment.

"It is a long story." Brianna said and was surprised when the other laughed again.

"I bet." The Tenno on the floor said with a groan that was long suffering. "Full of evil and complications if I know anything about the scum I was posted to." He slowly shook his head again. "From what you have said, and what you have not said, it is clear you know what I am. What I did."

"Yes." Brianna's tone was flat. She could only imagine what Lorinos had used a master assassin for and all of her thoughts were horrific.

"But you are not binding me or renewing my contract." The other mused. "What do you wish here?" He was still careful.

"Honestly? I don't know." Brianna admitted and the Excalibur was clearly goggling at her. "I didn't start as Executor. He remade me this way against my will." At that, the Excalibur surged to his feet, fury pouring from every inch of him, but again, he did not reach for a weapon. "I… I believe what he did heresy at its most base, but others disagree."

"Many of his peers would think that." Brianna and the Excalibur might have been the only people in the room now. He shook his head. "If any of his peers were still alive, they would disagree vehemently with such a thing. If such were the case, one of them would be here, not you. They aren't alive, are they?"

"Only one was known and Gilliananhorisa made a hell of a mess too." Brianna said with a sigh.

"Somehow, that does not surprise me." He stilled as an energy form appeared beside Brianna who bristled as Gee bowed to her and then to the Excalibur.

"Gee! The kids need you!" Brianna snapped. "Go back!"

She could hear Nikis growling. He did not like her and he had cause! The energy form who called herself Gee had submitted to judgment and it had been determined that she had been created long before Gilliananhorisa had killed Tenno Karl. She had been remanded, by Imperial decree no less, to Brianna's care until and unless Brianna perished. That might be a very long time. Or very _short_ time if this newcomer turned hostile.

"He is not your enemy!" Gee said quickly. "Micah! She can help! She was Brianna Enginus and-" The shade cut off as Brianna raised a hand and golden energy swept around the shade. She made a face, but did not resist as Brianna restrained her.

"You keep pushing Nikis and he will destroy you, but that will not be your end." Brianna said in a very soft voice that had everyone wincing. "You know that will not be your end. The Empress has backups of your energy for when you push him too far. Your origination earned far more than one death."

"Damn." Nikis' soft laugh was a bit incredulous, but also admiring. The being Gee had come from had angered a lot of people.

"You can help him, he can help you, Alpha Brianna Executor!" Gee lifted her head, exposing her throat to Brianna who growled, an eerie mimicry of Nikis' earlier growl. "You need-" She broke off as the energy around her flared.

"What I need is for you to leave." Brianna was still quiet, but the intensity level of her tone soared. "_Now!_"

"I… I obey." Gee said weakly as she vanished from sight. The energy that surrounded her faded with her and then Brianna turned back to the Excalibur who was eyeing her.

"Brianna Enginus." The assassin mused. "I see."

"Your name is Micah?" Brianna asked and the other nodded. "I will not bind you. I cannot. There is no Council now. If any others survived, they are hiding."

"And you are alone." Was that kindness in his tone? Sadness? Worry?

"I have duties, responsibilities." Brianna retorted. "You may go as you will. I know better than to try and bind Tenno."

"Long story there." The Excalibur did not move. "And if I chose to stay?"

"Do not expect trust." Brianna warned. "Lorinos hurt many here. Killed many here." She bowed her head. "He killed me here."

"I am not surprised." The male Tenno said with a sigh. "He always was a selfish, evil little prick." More than one person gasped at the vehemence in his words, but he relaxed.

"You served him while he was Councilor." Brianna's words were not a question.

"And when he didn't need me..." Micah nodded to the cryopod and Brianna stilled. "He kept me on ice. Will you?"

"I cannot trust you!" Brianna snapped.

"Nor I you." Micah nodded. "Trust must be earned. So..." More than one person gasped as the warframe stilled and the back split open, a small form climbed out. The Tenno was young! Perhaps fifteen? And his face! Brianna _knew_ his face!

The name burst from her mouth before she could halt it.

"_Will?_"


	3. Chapter 3

**Darker**

No one moved. Not the Tenno who had just exited his warframe and none of the others who were aiming at him very carefully now. All of the others who had weapons were aiming as the now meat Tenno raised his hands to shoulder height slowly and carefully. Brianna clamped her mouth shut, cursing her lack of self control silently.

"Um, that is not my name." The male Tenno who looked almost exactly like the swordmaster of the Karl's Shadow clan of Tenno said slowly as he looked around. Odd. He didn't seem hostile. Worried? Yes. Hostile? No.

"You look like a younger version of a Tenno we know." Nikis said flatly. "Wouldn't be the first time that some fool decided to clone Tenno, but you seem far too sane for that kind of tomfoolery."

"Doesn't usually end well, no." The other replied, looking at Brianna. That sounded like first hand experience. "I am not your enemy, Briana Executor. My name is Micah, not Will. I do not know any of you. You called him 'Nikis' and, while I have never met him before, I know _of_ Grandmaster Nikis." He nodded slowly to the Nekros. "I have no intention of antagonizing him."

'Wise' came from several places around the room.

"Everyone angers him sooner or later." Brianna said with a heartfelt sigh. She scoffed as Nikis made a 'who me?' gesture that everyone ignored. "Why should you be any different?"

"Because I like existing? After being thawed, I would rather enjoy being able to walk around for a bit." Micah said with a shrug. "Every time I came out, the creep always had jobs for me, so I did them, then went right back into cryo." He gave an exaggerated shudder. "Please don't do that." He begged, but it was whimsical.

"Don't make me." Brianna retorted but she did relax a bit as Micah stepped away from his warframe. She shook her head. "Not everyone here is cleared for your background, but if I may ask, how long can you 'walk around' as you put it?"

"I can stay out for a day or so while I try to figure out what to do." Micah looked at Diana who had not sheathed her Spira Primes. "You don't know any of the procedures, do you?"

"Why _would_ she?" Nikis demanded. "She wasn't a Council Member."

"Good." Either Micah was an incredible actor or he wasn't faking the ire that sounded in his voice. He looked at Diana and then bowed his head to Brianna. "I will do no harm to you or yours, Brianna Executor."

"I want to believe you." Briana was still fighting for calm and mostly managing. "But my trust has been abused so many times. Mainly by the one who held your oath."

"So you cannot trust." Micah nodded slowly. "If you were Brianna Enginus, then trusting me would be foolish indeed after all of what he did to you." Brianna eyed him and Micah shrugged. "He rarely spoke of such things, but I was good at picking up tidbits here and there. With him? It was usually far more than I ever wanted to know."

"I know that feeling." Brianna said heavily. "Did you see…?" She trailed off as Micah nodded. Everyone stared at her as she growled. 'Were you involved?"

"No." Micah replied evenly. "You cannot trust my word, but he only needed me for things he could not do on his own. There was little he couldn't-" He froze as a gray mass separated from the horde of shades near the wall and shot at him. "_NO!_ Gretchen! Don't!"

Brianna had power in hand and everyone else was aimed as Micah caught the sobbing tiny mass of energy and held it. How was he holding an energy form at all and from the look? Gently.

"Micah! Oh, Micah! I have missed you." The tiny form was crying as Micah held her. "You always tried to be nice."

"You went through a hell that would have driven many Tenno mad, girl." Micah said sadly as he held the tiny energy form. Another, larger form stepped out of the mass and he shook his head. The shade woman's face held terror and Micah slumped a bit. "Gretchen… Go to your mom."

"No!" The girl buried her face in his arm, sobbing harder. When she looked up, she was a little calmer. "You are not bad! Don't hurt him!" She begged of Brianna, tears streaming as she looked at the stunned Orokin. "Alpha, he is not bad!"

"She can't know that, Gretchen." Micah said gently. "But… Alpha?" He asked Brianna who nodded, face set as golden energy flared around her fingertips. "Is… Is Beta still around?"

"She is watching the kids while Alpha handles this." Gretchen said weakly and stilled as everyone stared at her. She quailed. "Um..."

"Kids?" Micah said very slowly and carefully. "You have _kids_ here?" He asked Brianna. His tone was odd. Betrayal? Brianna stilled and then she nodded.

"They don't know." Brianna said softly. "No one but the Empress will _ever_ know. I burned the rooms to _ash_." Micah stared at her and then he slowly relaxed. Everyone else, including Nikis looked confused, but Micah relaxed fully.

"What do you mean?" Gretchen was still crying as Micah held her. He turned her so that her face was to his and shook his head.

"Do not ask her that." Micah might have been carved from stone now. "If you believe _nothing_ else I say, Gretchen, then please believe this: _You do not want to know_. Lorinos was evil. There are no other words for what he did. For what he experimented with. For what he caused to happen to you and so many other people. You still exist, little one, if not as you were." He gave her a hug and she relaxed a little, her tears slowing, but not stopping. "I wanted to stop him. I tried to stop him! I couldn't!" He was all but crying now! A Tenno!

Brianna did not react as Tenno Diana stepped to her side. The assassin had sheathed her blades and the faceplate of her Saryn warframe retracted. She met Brianna's eyes and the pain in the assassin's eyes was a horrible thing. She knew. Somehow, the Rectifier knew too, but she wouldn't say either.

"Once the bond was in place and the fail-safe set, he couldn't disobey. Lorinos could just command and Micah had no choice but to obey." Diana said for Brianna's ears only. Brianna nodded just a little. "Graj never acted that way with me, but I know others did."

"I think the three of us need to talk." Brianna said softly as Micah soothed Gretchen and then held her out to the shade of her mother. He sighed as Gretchen swarmed closer to him, all but clinging to him.

"Yes." Diana allowed. "Yes, Brianna Executor, we do." She stepped to where Micah was trying to release Gretchen and the girl refused to let go of him. "Want some help?" She asked Micah who stared at her.

"I do not know what to ask." Micah said sadly. "This... _This_ was never covered."

"I know." Diana shook her head. "But I meant with the kid." She grinned as Micah goggled at her. "She seems to have grown attached."

"What?" Micah demanded as more than one person snickered. "Gretchen! Pleas let go! Your Alpha will not be happy."

"You are not bad!" Gretchen pleaded as Micah held her out and Diana took her from him. She wailed in loss, grabbing at him, but he stepped out of her reach and she wailed louder. "He is not bad!"

"That remains to be seen, child." Diana said very quietly as she soothed Gretchen. "If he does not attack us, then I have no quarrel with him. I doubt even Grandmaster Nikis would slay him without cause." She eyed Nikis who shrugged. "Then again..."

"I have no intention of giving anyone cause." Micah said heavily. "I have done so much, seen so much. Gretchen and her family have been hurt enough." He looked at Brianna who still had energy flaring around her fingers. "Can you help them?"

"Were you involved in what he did to them?" Brianna demanded and everyone stilled as a distant howl of wolf rage sang in her voice.

"The short answer is yes." Micah said softly. "Do with me what you will, Brianna Executor." He bowed his head and crossed his arms, each palm going to the opposite shoulder.

"_**NO!**_" Gretchen screamed from Diana's hands as power flared around Brianna. She tried to get out of Diana's grip, but was going nowhere. "No, Alpha! Don't! Please!"

Brianna stared at the disconsolate girl and then at Micah. She looked at Nikis who shrugged again. The Nekros shook his head, turned and left the room!

"And the _long_ answer?" Brianna asked, still not moving. Micah did not move either.

"Is quite long." Micah replied, face to the floor. "I have done things that there can be no forgiveness for."

"So have I." Brianna said very softly and Micah's head shot up, his face falling slack as he stared at her. The energy faded from her hands.

"What kind of high caste Orokin are you?" Micah asked, stunned. "None of them would have dreamed of saying such a thing!"

"When so many golden beings were poised to take action at the slightest hint of weakness and many of _them_ made Lorinos look fairly 'normal'?" Brianna all but growled that as she moved to Diana's side and took the sobbing energy form from her. Whatever Micah had done, she could hold Gretchen, but from the feel? It wouldn't last. "Show any weakness or even the hint of humanity among the golden skinned creeps and what happened?" She asked Micah who nodded.

"Torn to pieces. Dead quickly if you were very lucky. Few were that lucky." Micah shook his head as Gretchen reached for him again. "Gretchen, please."

"He is not bad!" Gretchen begged Brianna who blew out a deep breath.

"She can't know that!" Micah's patience was fleeing. "I know you feel for me, girl but-"

"You tried to help and he hurt you!" Gretchen's snarl as pure angry wolf and Brianna stiffened. Diana stilled as well. The energy form's solidity faded and she slid right out of Brianna's hands to stand in between the Orokin and the abject Tenno. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"Gretchen!" Micah's voice turned flat. "Do not disrespect your Alpha!"

"'And a little child shall lead them'." Everyone spun to see a human male in an odd garment standing in a doorway. Was that a monk's robe? He was unarmed and his head was bowed. "Alpha Brianna Executor, you are needed."

"This is not a good time, Clergyman!" A wolf sang in Brianna's tone.

"No, it is not." The man raised his face and he had been crying. "The com networks are trashed in this area. Kat and Keiko both tried to call you and couldn't get through. Kieko asked me to come get you. Mary had another seizure."

"No." Brianna felt terror rise to quench her rage. "How bad?"

"She fell out of her chair." The Clergyman bowed his head again. "I… I fear for her."

"Executor..." Micah said slowly and froze as golden energy suddenly flared around him. "Um..."

"Not a good time." Brianna gritted the words out.

"Brianna, go." Diana moved to stand beside Micah who stared from her to Brianna, to Gretchen and back. "I have this. I take responsibility."

"My tower!" Brianna all but screamed that. "My responsibility!"

"Mary is more important!" Diana snapped right back. "Go!"

So many conflicting emotions flared in Brianna, but one dominated. A little hurt girl was in trouble. She had to help.

She had to.

* * *

The plaza

For a long moment after Brianna and all the other Tenno vanished, there was silence. Then it was broken.

"Do not push her." Diana's cold words had everyone freezing. "Some of you may wish death, but if you hurt her, I will see it denied you." The fires of hell itself might have been extinguished by the chill in her voice. All of the shades vanished, Gretchen still crying even as her mother's shade gathered her up and vanished as well. "You know I can."

"She is a mess." Micah said slowly, not daring to move. The golden energy that surrounded him had not faded.

"If you saw any records that scum left, then you know who and what she was." Diana snapped. "He desired her all along. He likely planned this or something like it all along and you know it."

"I do." Micah bowed his head. "And your role?"

"I have my orders." Diana retorted. "They include watching her for anything out of the ordinary and if needed? To act. She knows it. What is more? She accepts it."

"She is high caste." Micah said weakly. "But… Pure? _Noble_ even!"

"No one knows how he did it, but he rearranged her DNA to the original strain." Diana slumped a bit. "She is still a kind, gentle soul for now, but in the end? Who can say? She is high caste Orokin now. Immortal. Able to access any Orokin tech now. Any. At. All. He made her this way to be his immortal bride!"

"Oh." Micah stared at the other assassin and then he blanched. "I figured some of that, but… Shit."

"Yeah, 'Shit' just about covers it. The only good thing? She refuses to _be_ Lorinos. My boss will want to talk to you." Diana said with a grunt. "And no, she is not an Executor."

"How is that possible?" Micah asked. Hope flared for a moment before despair covered it. "I didn't mean this to happen. Any of it. I really didn't. I just… I just did the job."

"You are not in any of my databanks and you look like someone we know." Diana replied. "Someone just as dangerous as us in his own way."

"I remember my life." If anything, Micah was more confused. "If I was a clone or something, I wouldn't, would I?" Diana just looked at him and he slumped. "Never mind. I remember. They had access to everything. If any high caste wanted a meat shell made that looked like a certain Tenno's body, they could have had it easily."

"Or something worse." Diana replied and Micah nodded. "This place… She will not speak of it and neither will _you_. To _anyone_. That is an Imperial Decree." Micah stilled and then he slowly nodded.

"So, the Royal Family does still exist?" Micah asked. "That is something, I guess."

"Not much else survived." Diana was noncommittal and Micah eyed her sidelong. "I have no intention of angering the Mistress of this tower. She is damn scary when she gets angry."

"Gretchen should not have done that." Micah said weakly. "I tried to help her and it didn't work. I couldn't disobey, but I could interpret his orders. He was not happy with me."

"He used you to collect them, didn't he?" Diana asked very quietly. Micah nodded and Diana bowed her head. "Damn it! If anyone else finds out about that, Brianna will burn this place to the ground with herself inside it! She may or may not remember her retainers or the hurt kids here! He hurt her so badly. No one knows exactly how badly but us and the Empress. Not even _her_. She asked to forget and the Empress granted it."

"She is all alone, isn't she?" Micah asked, fear rising for Brianna. Diana nodded. "I… This was never covered in training. I don't know of any situation where an Executor was removed and his or her Rectifier didn't die from the fail-safe activating."

"Lorinos is not dead yet." Diana said grimly and Micah stiffened. "From the Empress' words? He _might_ expire in a year or two." He would probably be begging for it inside of a week. Angry Empress equaled _ouch_.

"If _anyone_ earned that, _he_ did." Micah's cold words echoed. Then he relaxed. "But now… She is here and all alone."

"If you push her, she can and will kill you." Diana warned. "Then she will likely get _mean_."

"Better her than Nikis if half of what I have heard about him is true." Micah stared as Diana nodded. He swallowed hard. "Um… You know the grandmaster?"

"I may have worked with him a few times." Diana was calm, but ready as the energy that surrounded Micah faded. "Oh damn. She had to focus. That isn't good."

"Mary?" Micah asked. "From what was said, a little girl?"

"Mary is noncombatant Tenno. She is almost eight." Diana said sadly. "She was so badly hurt. Now she is so very sick and so brave it tears even one of us to pieces!"

"And Brianna was always a healer. Damn." Micah said softly. "Can she be saved?"

"Many, _many_ people are trying. We don't know. Even cloned bodies fail after a time and no one can figure out why." Diana said sadly. "This place was set up as a care facility when Brianna wrested it from Lorinos. She didn't know all of what he did here until later. I don't think she would have let any of the kids in here if she had known."

"What little I saw and read about her, healing was her life." Micah said softly and Diana nodded. "Mind troubles in particular. She is all alone. Orokin were social animals just like humans. They were not meant to be alone."

"Hence why Lorinos wanted her." Diana said in a husky voice.

"He may be gone, she is not. We cannot let her fade." Micah said with a growl. "We cannot!"

"Trust will not happen." Diana warned. "Whatever else Lorinos did, he stole her from a Tenno dojo and did _that_ to her against her will. We were and _are_ not happy about that."

"He didn't have me to do it." Micah slumped. "I never…. I never wanted to to..."

"Do not speak of it." Diana snapped and Micah shut his mouth with a click. "I will silence you and take your bleeding body to the Empress if you speak of it."

"She will figure it out, what he did to her before." Micah said sadly. "If she is half as determined and bright as she seems? I never saw her or dealt with her before, but what I see now? It will destroy her."

"That is our fear." Diana agreed but stared as Micah smiled. "What?"

"She needs help and I need a job. Is she hiring?" The male assassin smiled wider as Diana groaned. "Hey, I am being serious here."

"This is going to go over like a lead balloon." Diana warned, but the corners of her own mouth were turning up. Oh, the possibilities for jokes! Throughout history, many assassins had possessed notoriously odd senses of humor. It helped sometimes.

"Probably." Micah sobered. "But if I _can_ help? Maybe make up for some of what I did?"

"Just tell me before you ask so I can _run_." Diana shook her head as Micah _giggled_. "And don't do that!"

"Spoilsport."


	4. Chapter 4

**Unable**

Brianna fought hard not to cry as Mary was laid back on the bed. The Orokin and her partner in healing banished the golden energy that she had summoned and he had controlled to soothe the distressed child's wavelengths yet again.

"There has to be _something!_" Brianna said with a growl as Mary was covered by a sheet that was far warmer than its thin appearance suggested. "Some reason! I cannot accept that everything we did, every hurt she endured, everything we tried was for _nothing!_"

_I am sorry, Brianna._ Her colleague said quietly as he hovered way from the bed and medical machinery swept down to surround Mary. It would do nothing unless she needed it, but it would be ready. It would likely be needed. _I cannot find anything wrong. The scans I sent to Mother are as perplexing to her as they are to us. _**She**_ can find nothing wrong in any of Mary's energy or the physical structure of her body. Something is clearly wrong, but none of us can find it. If we cannot find it, we cannot ease it or correct it. I… I do not like this feeling either. This helplessness._

"I..." Brianna felt her eyes burn and despite the tower's sudden concern, she ignored the worry the machinery projected to her to focus on the girl through suddenly blurry eyes. It helped to remember who and what she had been. She didn't need to physically cry now to show sorrow. She had so many other ways of showing sorrow, some of which no human had words for.

_I wish I could cry._ Tanah said as his silver blue form eased close to his friend and Brianna laid a hand on his metal housing. Odd that a Sentient of all things would offer comfort, but Tanah pretty much defined the word 'odd'. _It is nothing we did. It is nothing Liriel did. There is no damage to her body or her energy. There is not._

"So why is she _seizing!?_" Brianna snapped that with far more force than she had intended and then she slumped. "Sorry! I am sorry!" She begged as Tanah retreated half a meter. "You know I am not angry with you any more than I am with her." She nodded to Mary's still form.

_I know, __my friend and I feel the same way__._ Tanah reassured her but the Sentient's voice was grim. _We have few options now, Brianna. We cannot help her. Avalon cannot help her. My Mother cannot help her._

"She said 'No', Tanah." Brianna's tone was calmer, but fury lay just underneath. Said fury was not directed at the Sentient. More at this whole screwed up situation. "Her parents agreed with her. They all said the same and the Elders have spoken their ruling. I begged Iriana to appeal and she did, but the appeal was denied. As much as we may disagree with it, we _cannot_ go against Mary's wishes." She slumped. "She is right. That is not living. No stasis."

_I do not agree with this._ Tanah snapped, his own fury at this horror a match for Brianna's. _We cannot help her now, but no one knows what the future holds. What advances may be found in treatments for brain injuries such as she suffered. Not even an Oracle can truly know what will happen._ Brianna looked away and Tanah's voice hushed. _You… You heard from them, didn't you? _Brianna nodded, not trusting her voice._And you didn't say… Because… __No… _Tanah begged.

"_They cannot find a cause either!" _Brianna all but collapsed and Tanah swept close as she started to cry. "All this for _nothing!_"

_Human brains do not stop working for no reason. __There has to be a cause. Something we can find. Something we can fix._ Tanah said sternly enough that Brianna stared at him through streaming eyes. _I __also__ refuse to accept this. She is barely started on her life. She has a bright future ahead of her. She cannot perish here. __She is a good bud!_

"Yes, she is." Brianna sighed deeply as she turned to the bed. "But what right have we to prolong suffering, my friend? I asked the Oracles to see about healing from elsewhere when they told me and they promised to do what they could, but they could not promise when or if they might get an answer."

_I know how complicated such can be._ Tanah said very quietly as he too turned his housing to scrutinize Mary's still form._ Any being with compassion would be moved by Mary's predicament, but there are limits for a reason. I too wish to act, but I must not. I will cause far more problems than I solve and if I do? Mary would never forgive me._

"I do not know how you came here or why you simply showed up and started healing, but I am glad you did." Brianna laid her hand on the housing again and a faint tingling showed Tanah comforting her with his odd energy. "I do not know what I would have done without you."

_You would have managed, probably with far more staff, but you would have managed._ Tanah reassured her. _You and Kat did marvels here before I popped in on you with no warning. __Part__ of me assumed you would call a Tenno in to destroy me __or do it yourself__._

"I almost did." Brianna cast one last, despairing look at the now comfortably sleeping girl and rose to her feet. "I am glad I didn't. You scared the hell out of me, but If I had? I would have missed your cooking." She shook her head. "We have rounds to make."

"I will stay with her until she wakes." A soft, worried voice preceded another hovering form into the room. The voice was female. This was not a Sentient though. The DethCube Sentinel was not a normal one, but even if it had been hostile, no one would dare touch it for several reasons. Not the least of which what _Brianna_ would do to anyone who tried to hurt the mind who resided inside. "If you do not mind, Brianna Executor, Tanah?"

"This was not your Mother's doing, Elena." Brianna raised a hand, palm up and the Sentinel buzzed close to land on it. "She is not to blame any more than we are. She is just as dumbfounded by this as we are and I know Isis is just as heartbroken as we are." She looked away but when she spoke it was firm. "I know your mother feels very strongly about this poor child, but Mary stated her wishes. The Queen of Cats may have the power to intervene in anything to do with companions, but this is not a companion. Mary has made her choice. She does not want to go into stasis and the Elders agree with her and her family that such would be cruel."

"I do not like this, Briana Executor!" Elena, the mind of the youngest kitten made from the Queen of Cats without her consent said with a mewl of fear and anger mixed. She wasn't a kitten now. But she sure seemed that way occasionally.

"Nor do I, Elena." Brianna slumped and then smiled as the DethCube flashed odd colors and glyphs of various funny things appeared on its sides, Elena trying to cheer her up. "But thank you. She does like you and you can keep her calm." She paused and made a face. "But no running into walls as jokes again. Your mother was not happy and neither was I."

Considering the kitten/Sentinel had bounced off a wall, lost control and nearly fried herself in a plasma stream while trying out aerobatics the day she had arrived? No. The Queen of Cats had _not_ been amused by the scorch marks on the DethCube's hull. _Brianna_ had also made her displeasure clear. The Orokin was reasonably sure that Elena had been showing off for a certain hurt kid at the time, but no one would say and she would not press as long as Elena took no more foolish risks. The _last_ thing Brianna wanted to do was anger Liriel.

That kavat royal was scary dangerous even when trying not to be.

The good news? Liriel was also smart and kind when she could be. That was not nearly often enough, but Brianna understood. Did she ever!

"Yes, Brianna Executor." Elena said quickly and moved to hover next to Mary's bed. Her tone changed to sorrow. "Is there nothing we can do?"

"We can be here for her." Brianna moved to the bed, bent down and kissed Mary's forehead. "We can be here to share her pain, alleviate her fear as best we can and try to make her final days as peaceful as we can. I..." Sorrow reared up again, but she smashed it back. "I fear that is all we can do."

"I will miss her." Elena's voice was sad now. "But until she goes? Mother said that if you allow it, I can stay with her as long as I do not bother her."

"She likes you." Brianna paused. Mary's lips were moving. "What the-?" A quick scan showed nothing that Brianna recognized. "Tanah? Is she dreaming?"

_She is not awake._ The Sentient mind healer said after a moment of scanning the poor girl. _Then again, after her ordeals, her dreams have been very bad on occasion. __I cannot sense any harmful mental activity, but we should ward her closer, just in case._

"I can do that." Elena promised. "Mother took my gun away, but she left me my mods." A green beam swept out from the Sentinel to pass over Mary.

"Your mother is wise. A gun and hurt kids don't mix." Brianna replied but she was smiling as Elena focused her scan on Mary. "Just don't neglect yourself, Elena. You have needs too."

"I know." Elena's voice was warm as her cube turned to face Brianna. "I do thank you for your aid, you and mind healer Tanah both. I was drowning and you saved me."

"You were hurt. The same as any other young one here. The fact that we can only touch metal when we touch you is immaterial." Brianna said firmly enough that both Tanah and Elena stared at her. "You have a heart and soul. Both were hurting after your ordeals. I hope we helped."

"You did." Elena reassured her. Then she snickered. "You do know that mom is planning to name a kitten after you and one after Tanah, right?" A sputtering of static came from the Sentient as Brianna stared at the DethCube.

"Somehow, that would not surprise me." Brianna managed to keep the laughter out of her voice by sheer force of will. "Your mother has a sick sense of humor."

"That she does. Dad's is worse." Elena's tone sobered. "I am hooked into the com grid, Healers. My chassis is fully charged and I will ward Mary until she wakes."

_If she speaks aloud, please record it._ Tanah said when Brianna started for the door. _I do not think she is dreaming, but I do not understand much of what is going it. This situation defies understanding._

"Yes, it does." Brianna said heavily as the DethCube settled down beside Mary's pillow, a silent guardian to help ward her from the horrors of her past. Only after the door was closed behind her did she speak again. "Tower, ward both of them, class two unobtrusive."

Power flared and then vanished. It hadn't been very long ago that Abigail had been snatched right out of the tower by people who Brianna had trusted. It had worked out all right in the end, due no small part due to Elena's mother but it still rankled. Brianna had promised herself not to fail her patients again.

Tanah did not speak, simply hovered beside her as Brianna walked towards the main medical ward. Both came to a sudden halt as a human form stepped out into the hall in front of them and crossed her arms. Kat was not happy.

"Brianna. Tanah." Oh dear. Kat only kept her voice _this_ level when she was incredibly annoyed.

"Uh… Kat." Brianna swallowed. This as ridiculous! She was the mistress of the tower, the sole beneficiary of its incredible power and resources. Why was she about to shuffle her feet like an errant schoolgirl? "Is there a problem?"

"You tell me. Where are you going?" Kat asked, all but tapping her foot in annoyance.

"I have rounds. I need to check everyone, make sure sure everyone is okay." Brianna said weakly as Tanah moved a little away from her. "Um…"

"What is today?" Kat asked and Tanah all but wilted in mid-air. Brianna felt her world crumble under Kat's glare.

"My… My scheduled day off." Brianna said slowly. Then she growled. "Kat! Mary needed me!"

"Yes, she did. Well done." Kat nodded. "Bath. Food. Bed. Now." Those were not suggestions.

"Kat!" Brianna all but snapped that as Kat moved to stand closer. "I have to make sure everyone is okay!"

"That is what your drones are for." Kat snapped right back. "As long you stay in the undamaged areas, you can keep tabs on everyone and be at in any trouble spot in moments. But right now, the only trouble spot I see is residing between your ears, you stubborn Orokin. You need rest, real rest."

"I do not like my dreams!" Brianna barely felt the wall behind her as she slid away form Kat and Tanah who was glowing softly purple now. He only did that when he was very worried.

"I do not doubt it." Kat stepped up to where Brianna stood and reached out slowly with a hand to take Brianna's long fingered one in her own. "That scum hurt us both very badly. I need you, Brianna. Don't fall apart, please?" The naked fear in Kat's voice pulled Brianna back from wherever she had been falling.

"I dream every night!" Brianna said weakly as Kat held her hand. "I cannot let him win, but I dream he _has!_" She hated the whining that entered her tone, but it was hard to stop. "That he got exactly what he wanted!"

_I highly doubt this is what he wanted._ Tanah didn't move. Brianna was incredibly powerful here and if she lashed out, neither Kat nor he had any chance. Well, except that he could adapt to almost any kind of energy and Kat was protected as well. She could still hurt them very badly.

"Let go of me, Kat!" Brianna begged. "I can't hurt _you_ of all people!"

Considering how many incredibly powerful beings had shown up the last time someone had hurt Kat? Oh no, that was the _last_ thing Brianna wanted to do. They would be repairing damage for some time from the _first_ battle. At least the second time hadn't been as bad. Scary, but not messy.

"You won't." Kat pulled Brianna in a hug as the Orokin started to cry. "You doubt your skill, your control. I don't. We have this, Brianna. _You_ need to rest." She shook her head. "Bath. Now."

"You would drag me to the tub by my hair, wouldn't you?" Brianna managed to dredge up humor from somewhere and Kat smiled at her. She pulled and Brianna followed. Was that laughter coming from the Sentient as Tanah followed? Had to be her imagination.

"You are not my type, but yeah." Kat smiled as Brianna's felt her face flame. "Do I need to get Iriana in here again?"

"No!" Brianna said quickly and started off, her steps firming up. The Tenno healer was fully capable of taking Brianna in hand, setting her down and doing things that were incredibly embarrassing. Being fed got old after the first few moment, The fact that Iriana got downright motherly when Brianna got stubborn was worse. Fighting the Healer didn't work. Making her angry was a bad idea. Even the mistress of an Orokin tower stepped carefully around Iriana when she got upset. Hell, even _Nikis_ did. None of what she did was rough but that made it worse in some ways.

"She is here and has prescribed an aid for sleeping." Kat led Brianna towards her quarters. "She will talk to you in the morning."

"Iriana is here?" Brianna tried to stop, but Kat would not let her. "Kat!"

"She came with Will and Alicia. She is checking on Abigail." Kat did not slow as the odd cavalcade approached Brianna's quarters and the door hissed open for them. "Bath. Now. Tanah? We need one of your specials."

_Coming right up, Ma'am._ Tanah promised as he moved towards the food preparation area. Most Orokin would have considered actually touching food to prepare it something so far beneath them as to be inconsequential. Brianna was most definitely not 'most'. She was a good cook. Tanah's cooking defined the word 'incredible'. Brianna had yet to sample any of his foods that were bad. His pizza was to die for.

"I am afraid, Kat." Brianna let Kat lead her towards the bathing area. "I am afraid that I will wake up and Mary will be gone."

"Not with Iriana here, she won't be." Kat reassured her. "But you are my focus now. You take so much on yourself, Alpha Brianna Executor. You need to rest now. Let tomorrow take care of tomorrow. For tonight? Rest."

Brianna stared at her friend and then sighed as Kat shoved her into the bathing chamber and blocked the door. Brianna could move her easily with power, but that would just make her more stubborn. They had done this argument before. Brianna would not hurt Kat and Kat knew it. It wasn't that Kat was protected by extra reality beings of immense power. It was that Kat was usually right.

"Slave driver." Brianna sighed deeply as she started for the huge tub that filled most of the thirty meter square room, energy wafting around her as her garment changed from flowing medical garb to bathing attire. Kat coughed and Brianna turned to glare at her.

"I set it for Jacuzzi." The human looking female said with a smile and Brianna groaned. Even Orokin materials could tear when hit by the power that Kat preferred her water jets set for. "Go on."

"You just want to see me in the buff again!" Brianna snapped as she slid into the massive tub that was larger than many swimming pools had been once upon a time. It was set to her body temperature and felt hot, but then very nice as she headed deeper into the tub. There was no way she could drown in here and that was a good thing since parts of the tub were almost three meters deep. She found a corner and slid up onto a seat that felt like rock, but was incredibly hard composite that would not melt if tossed into an active volcano.

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as water jets hit her from three different sides and sheer natural pleasure rocked her to her core. Part of her knew her attire would not survive this. The rest was busy trying not to moan in pleasure. She laid her head back and other, softer water jets hit her scalp, pulsing through her hair, cleaning off residues of her long, tiring day. It too felt heavenly. She was so entranced by the feelings that she never heard Kat's soft, sad words.

"If that is what it takes to save you, so be it, my friend."


	5. Chapter 5

**Inconvenience**

Brianna was finally asleep.

In sleep, the golden skinned female's face smoothed from its perpetual worry and pain, showing its inbred genetic perfection as only someone who had been _built_ could. She was beautiful in an inhuman way but it was her humanity that made her who and what she was. Her love for her fellow beings. Her capacity for kindness and empathy that would have dumbfounded almost any other of the golden skinned Orokin. Her determination to do the 'right' thing as opposed to the quick or easy thing. Her bone deep desire to do no harm.

All of which Lorinos had subverted in his evil.

Kat asked the tower to pull the sheet up around her friend as Tanah retreated to the doorway. She didn't dare touch Brianna. Even here, even now, the Orokin was protected by the power of this building. Any unauthorized touching would hurt. Brianna had given Kat limited access to the tower for just such situations though and the tower responded as it usually did, with efficiency and speed. A light sheet wrapped around the slumbering Orokin and tell tales flashed into existence, ready to warn if she experienced distress or woke before she was supposed to. The somatic unit should let her rest comfortably for a night, but her physiology was different enough from almost any others as to be quite difficult to counter on occasion.

Kat heaved a deep, quiet sigh as she stepped away from the bed and started for the door.

"You outdid yourself." Kat as as the door closed. "She really liked those 'fricken nugglets' and what did you call those? 'Fried Frenches'?"

**Chicken ****nuggets**_ and _**f****rench fries**_._ Tanah corrected her with a hint of aspiration that was totally fake. He didn't mind. _The __fries__ are a starch based dish that dates back to pre-Orokin. __The nuggets are almost as old a recipe._

"Wow." Kat smiled at the Sentient, but her heart wasn't in it. "You do the best comfort food I have ever heard of." She slumped a bit. "I just wish… I wish I could help her."

_Brianna or Mary?_ Tanah asked as he hovered closer.

"Both. Either." Kat shook her head, "I am no healer and I don't know what she found in those rooms. I think I am glad of that. Could that be what is hurting Mary? Whatever she found?"

_No._ Tanah replied. _I too do not know what she found, but whatever it was, she said it was straightforward, if incredibly evil. She destroyed them before anyone else could investigate and then asked the Empress to wipe her memory of what she found, so whatever it was, it was horrific beyond belief._

"Worse than Kieko and Abigail." Kat swallowed hard. "As hard as that is to believe, she must have had cause to react that badly. I have never seen her so angry and yet, so torn apart."

_Whatever was in there was likely something she did._ Tanah warned Kat who stiffened. _There was a time when she worked for Lorinos Executor willingly. When all he had to do was ask for something and she would have done it. __She loved him and believed he loved her. I do not know if it was drugs, mind control or some other form of manipulation, but she truly believed he loved her until he sold her to the madman. Even when he beat her, she believed __he loved her__. __The scars of that will never fade from her psyche. They are part of what make Brianna Executor who she is, but they pain her to this day._

"Whatever she was so long ago, _now_, she is a good being who is falling apart." Kat said with a growl. "Mary's plight is tearing her to pieces."

_It is tearing us all to pieces._ Tanah had matching sorrow in his non-audible speech.

"I thought making this horror filled place a place of healing would be a good idea." Kat said weakly, fighting tears. She paused as Tanah stopped in mid-air.

_It was and is a good idea._ The Sentient healer said sternly. _Brianna Executor embraced your plan because it was a good idea. _He made a soft noise of grief. _But as in all things, there are limits. We cannot heal what we cannot find a cause for. There is no reason we can determine for this. None of our scans can find anything. None of our tests find anything. There is nothing wrong with __Mary__._

"She is just seizing so badly it will kill her eventually." Kat said sadly. "Rachel blames herself, but she and hers didn't do this. The Library blames itself, but _it_ didn't do this. No one can find anything that can cause this, but something clearly is."

_Yes, something is causing this._ Tanah seemed to slump in mid-air. _I would blame Hunhow or any of the other threats in systems, but their tampering would leave traces. We could help her if that were the case. This? No._

"And no one is dumb enough to ask the Caretakers for help after Mary did." Kat winced hard and Tanah seemed to share it. "Thank _god_ she asked Mishka and not Jasmina!"

_Thank whatever deity you prefer that she did not ask that of Jasmina! I prefer to be unroasted, thank you very much._ Tanah replied. _The others have gathered. We have time now. Mary is stable and Brianna Executor sleeps._

"She will check the records. She will see that we met." Kat warned. "It was hard enough fuzzing the records to get Kieko back here. We cannot hide this from her."

_So, we don't._ Tanah started off and Kat followed. _We tell her the truth. We are very worried about her and Mary. We are also all very worried about what will happen to her when we lose Mary._

"Yeah." Kat said in a very small voice as the Sentient led her into another room. This one only had one door. The long hallway had couches on either side, interspersed with the tall oblong lockers that the Orokin had preferred. Even now, Kat wasn't sure why the ancient builders had set them up the way they had, something about color blindness? That made no sense. No Orokin would have suffered from such. The large orb that dominated the center of the room was nearly blocked from her view by the number of people who rose to greet them when she and Tanah entered the room. She raised a hand before anyone could speak and nodded. "Brianna Executor is asleep and should stay that way for at least four hours until her brain acclimatizes to the somatic unit's wavelength."

"How are you doing, Kat?" Healer Iriana asked as she scrutinized the newcomers. "Tanah? You both look tired." Her daughter Mishka stood beside her and she stood in between a group of Tenno in warframes and a familiar Ember Prime. Jasmina was not happy, but she was in control of herself. A good thing. A Trinity Prime warframe stood beside the Caretaker. Was Isha a guard? A protector? Hard to say. "When did you both sleep last?"

"I am a mess, Healer." Kat said sadly. "Not physically. Emotionally." Everyone nodded or showed agreement in some other way. She held out a hand to Jasmina. "Caretaker, I apologize. _None_ of us expected Mary to ask _that_." _Everyone_ winced in unison.

"That was quite clear from your reactions when she did." Jasmina took Kat's hand in a gentle one, gave it a squeeze and released it. "But for the record and recorded by everyone here. The answer is 'No'. We will _not_ infect her. We _do not_ infect people." She looked at Mishka. "But you do owe her an apology."

"I know." Mishka said sadly. "I was so shocked when she asked. I didn't mean what I said. I tried to apologize, but she ran off crying."

"Asking _you_ of all people to infect her was insane." Kat said with a growl as she took a step to Mishka and pulled the shuddering Tenno bard into an embrace. "She is hurting and has been. Nothing we do helps. We keep her physical pain under control, but that dulls her so badly that she feels out of control." She sighed deeply. "And we all know how Tenno react to that."

"Badly." Mishka agreed. She looked up as Abigail pushed through the crowd to stand beside Kat. "I am sorry." Mishka said sadly. "Did I cause her seizure?" Kat looked at Iriana who made a face before responding.

"No, Mishka, you didn't." The preeminent healer of the current Tenno said heavily. "We cannot find a cause. Her emotions have been all out of whack since she was rescued. Then the revelations of what happened to Kat, to Lissandra, to others..." The Healer bowed her head. "We are all hurting. We are all broken and hurting. We are all questioning what we learned as children. We have to go on, we are Tenno, but many of us wonder what that means now."

More than one person in the room looked at the floor as Iriana's gaze swept the room, but it was Tanah that spoke.

_You are descendants of people that had something horrific happen to them._ _Who chose to transcend the horror and become more than ravening beasts._ The Sentient healer spoke slowly and carefully as everyone looked at him. _If I understand nothing else about your kind, Healer Iriana, I understand that. Your ancestors were not saints any more than mine were. That said? They survived. They went on. They made something greater than themselves, greater than the horror they endured. You are Tenno, Healer Iriana. Never doubt that. __It is not what they _**were**_. It is what you _**are**_._

"You humble me, Tanah." Iriana said softly.

_I am a mess too._ The kind metal monster said sadly. _I saw other young perish and it never gets easier to watch when you cannot do anything _**but**_ watch. Buds of my kind, young of human or Tenno kind? Does it matter? The sorrow for lives cut far too short is the same. __We cannot save Mary._

"Healer thinks that even if we did, by some madness, choose to do as she asked Mishka, even that wouldn't help." Jasmina sighed deeply and relaxed. "We have been combing our records, Caretaker and First alike. Seizures are known, but there is always a cause for them. Some interruption of the brain's physical mechanisms. Energy, physical, environmental, there has to be a cause and there isn't one here."

"No." Kat shook her head. "Even the Oracles are stumped. They say there is nothing psionic about this either, so… What does that _leave?_" She asked anyone and everyone. "If we lose Mary, we will likely lose Brianna. Stubborn Orokin won't give up and she is pushing herself too far even for her kind. She is not sleeping enough as it is and if she breaks..." She swallowed hard. "She made me take the backup controls for the tower. She knows she is falling apart."

"I honesty do not know if there is anything we can do, Kat." Iriana said sadly and hugged Kat as the other gave a small sob. "I can stay here for a day or so. Lissandra has her treatment and Cass' well in hand. Another girl with no quit in her." She opened her mouth, but Kat beat her to speech.

"Mary said 'No', Healer." More than one person looked confused as Iriana recoiled a bit. Kat just shook her head. "No one here is cleared for that but the Healer and me. No, Iriana. I asked her with Brianna's blessing and the kid said no. She won't let that happen and if we try to force it, she will fight."

"And if it is her only chance?" Iriana demanded.

"There is nothing to filter!" Kat retorted. "There is nothing wrong with Mary! Nothing!" Iriana recoiled anew and Kat held her gently. "She refuses to put a sister in danger for 'no gain'. _Her_ words, not _mine_."

"That won't go over well." Iriana said softly, then gave herself a shake. "Everyone who knows Mary is upset about this. Almost everyone else is waiting to see how bad this goes. The warriors are rather annoyed."

"I did wonder when I read that report about a Razorback torn limb from limb. Crazy Tenno." Kat smiled as more than one warframe made a 'who me?' gesture.

"In ancient times, a hospice served terminally ill people as well as those who could be saved." Iriana said quietly. "An incredibly hard job, physically and emotionally. Can you do that, Kat?"

"We have other patients." Kat's reply was just as quiet. "Brianna wouldn't want me falling apart. I am sad, but I am not as broken as she was. I don't remember what was done to me." Abigail stepped up and hugged Kat. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. Kieko stepped up as well and joined the hug. "I still feel it, but I do not remember. That is best, I think."

"With aid, you are getting past it." Iriana smiled as Kat relaxed. "Recovery is always a long, hard road, but you are walking it well."

"_We_ are walking it well, healer." Kat retorted and Iriana smiled, but it held the hint of melancholy. Iriana's hurts were the stuff of horrific legend.

"You are well on your way to being a Healer yourself, Kat." Iriana smiled as Kat's sudden discomfiture. "And no, I won't press. I am not that stupid, but you do have all the requirements. The skill, the will and the desire to do better for people." She looked at Tanah who made a noise of agreement.

_I am glad I am not the only one who thinks that._ Tanah said and more than one person snickered as Kat blushed. _You would make a very good one, Kat._

"Maybe someday." Kat did not squash the notion out of hand, but she was focused on the now. "Is there nothing we can do for Brianna? If..." She bowed her head and corrected herself grimly. "_When_ we lose Mary, it will tear Brianna apart."

"Except for her and possibly Ballas, the Orokin are all gone." Iriana's face set. "I would say, 'good riddance' but even the darkest of histories do not say it all. They were not all evil. Brianna is a good example even if she wasn't of the highest caste."

"And Orokin were social creatures." Kat bowed her head. "They needed to interact with each other just as humans and Tenno do. I… I cannot accept that. She is not alone! We do not leave her alone!"

"There were many things about the Orokin that no one in this age understands." Iriana frowned. "Maybe the Lotus knows, but heaven only knows where she is or if we could even talk to her safely. The Empress likely knows more, but could she tell us? Would it be safe for us, and more importantly, for _Brianna_?"

"If we do nothing, we lose her." Kat said with a growl that was not aimed at anyone present. "What that scum did destroyed her. He tried to remake her and if she hadn't _known_ that he had been cast out..." She shuddered and everyone shared it. "It would not have ended well."

"For anyone." Iriana agreed.

"Anyone at _all_." A new voice came from behind Kat. She spun and froze.

An impossibility stood there. Mary cradled in the arms of an utter impossibility. The female high caste Orokin was _not_ Brianna. The long gold skinned limbs were the same, the black hair was the same, but she wore an odd gray garment instead of golden ones and her face was subtly different. Said face was sad as she looked down at Mary and then as she looked across the stunned assemblage.

"I tried to stop her!" Elena's terrified voice came from the Sentinel where it lay on Mary's chest. "I tried to call for help! I couldn't get through!"

"Don't blame her or yourself, kitten." The Orokin was sad. So sad. "Brianna Executor will blame herself, but _I_ am at fault. Not her. Healer." She held Mary's still form out to Iriana who did not move. "You know my kind's evil the best, Tenno Healer Iriana. A Tenno child. This was unprecedented. If my kind had known about Tenno forming relationships during the War, they would have acted. As bad as things got, that would have been worse. She is still hurt, although I have fixed what I can. Mary should sleep for several days. I do not know if I have saved her or not."

"What did you do?" Kat snarled and she felt the pack rising around her.

"I did as I was programmed to do." The Orokin said quietly, not moving as Iriana eyed her. "As Lorinos programmed me to do." A stillness swept the room and she nodded. "You are not the only one to be changed by Orokin evil, Healer." She sighed. "Kat, will you take these from me? Healer Iriana cannot trust me, but I know what you are and I have _no_ intention of violating Rule 2." Was that a smile on her face as Kat gasped? That was what the Storms had said when they had come to her aid. 'Rule 2: Leave StormKin alone!' What else did this newcomer know?

"Smart." Kat tried to step towards the golden being, but was held in place by Abigail and Kieko. "Let go."

"Kat!" Kieko snarled. "Brianna won't forgive me if any harm comes to you."

"She won't hurt me." Kat said quietly. "If she knows half of what happened here, then she won't hurt me."

"I know more than that." The Orokin smiled again and it was as beautiful as she was. "The battle that your protectors waged cracked my containment vessel. It took some time, but I was almost free when Mary found me." She bowed her head. "When she tried to talk to me. I begged her to flee and she did not. Even trapped in a life support chair, she tried to help me and that nearly cost her life." She shook her head. "I was not a good being in life, but now? I have a second chance. My kind earned every ounce of your rage, every millimeter of your ire and I deserve just as much as they got. But before then? I have to do what I can. Please?"

She extended Mary and Elena to Kat who shrugged out of the arms that held her to step forward and take the burden. Mary was breathing easily and her face was serene. Elena was all but pulsing in rage but Mary slept comfortably despite the lack of medical equipment.

"You have no words for what I did." The Orokin stepped back slowly. Kat was hyperaware that every Tenno had weapons in hand, but she was close and none dared fire. "For what happened when she touched my core energy." Iriana gasped and the Orokin nodded. "Yes, Healer, I nearly transferred into her. I stopped it, but there _was_ damage. It left no marks, no physical damage. But it _did_ hurt her. I have been trying to find a way to heal her and I finally did. I think so anyway. I am no Healer, so I do not know if I have saved her or not. Please?" She begged the room. "Take care of her? Crazy girl is dear to me too."

Then she was gone in a flash of gold.


	6. Chapter 6

**Golden dreams**

Brianna Executor woke to oddness.

She was lying on grass instead of the bed she remembered going to sleep on. She stared up into a beautiful blue sky and tried to fathom what was going on. A voice came to her ears. And not just her ears! Every sense that she possessed said the same. Orokin!

"Just roll with it, my dear. Do you like the sky? After so long in a containment tank, I find I do." Brianna tried to roll to her feet as she had been taught, but her body wasn't moving. Or, it was, just very slowly. A golden hand came into her field of view and pressed her to the ground with gentle, but irresistible force. "No. If you try to fight, you will hurt yourself. I won't let you hurt yourself further."

"I… What?" Brianna croaked as heavenly feelings swept through her. Familiar feelings! She tried to fight, to flee, to do anything and she could do nothing but lie there.

"It is all right." The other said as Brianna felt pains that she hadn't even realized had been hurting vanish as if they had never been. "This is in your mind. You are still asleep in your Tower. You are safe." She reassured Brianna but Brianna could see the hand that held her down. Its fingers were longer than any human fingers and the skin was gold! "No!" The other begged as Brianna finally managed to gather power. "Don't!"

Pain scoured through Brianna as the power she had called recoiled out of her control. She felt her self fraying and then suddenly, she was gripped in golden arms. Gentle golden arms.

"No." The other said with a growl of annoyance. "I refuse to let you pay for my crimes!"

Brianna could do nothing but cry as the golden energy she had summoned swaddled her. There really wasn't any other word for how it wrapped around her, so carefully and comfortably. How it eased every single iota of her being.

"It is all right." The other reassured her with tears in her voice. "It is all right. I won't hurt you." The arms laid Brianna back on the ground and now? Something warm was lying beside her. A soft touch on her hair was soothing, calming as the pain slowly faded. "I know you are asking yourself who I am. My name is Kaitlin Executor. You probably don't know the name."

"Exec- no!" Brianna tried to fight, tried to flee. She couldn't do anything! She was struggling and then golden power flashed again and she was tired. So, very tired.

"It is all right." The other reassured her. "I too know Lorinos' evil. You burned the labs, destroyed all the databases. Good girl."

"Had to..." Brianna swallowed hard. "I..."

"I know." Kaitlin gave her a squeeze. "You did the right thing. It hurt you to kill the beings in those tubes, but none of them had minds, my dear. You freed them from Lorinos' bondage. From horrific pain filled existence. Well done!"

"They screamed..." Brianna was sobbing as the other held her. "I couldn't do anything but burn them."

"I know." Kaitlin reassured her as Brianna felt another squeeze. "It is not your fault. It is not my fault or even Micah's fault. It is _all_ on Lorinos. _He_ did this. Not _you_."

"What?" Brianna managed through the comfort the other was sending. It was physical, mental and so many other ways that had no real counterparts in humans. "What are you doing?"

"You are not human, Brianna Executor." The other said quietly. "You need to recover. There is only one way to do that. I will pay for this. For this violation of your self, but it is the only way to save your life as far as you are gone."

"Wait… What? No!" Brianna begged as power flared around her and she was suddenly in the air. The hand was still on her brow. "Don't!"

"You need this and after so long in that damn tank with only him to sate his needs on me? So do I." Kaitlin said sadly. "Relax. Let me do the driving."

All Brianna could do was scream and then all she could do was moan as pleasure flew through her. Familiar, horrific pleasure that would not be denied. She barely felt hands on her and her own hands moving without her conscious control in ways she had not done in a long, long time. Not since she had worked and been a plaything for a madman.

Orokin had always loved their pleasures and had always enjoyed spreading them with their slaves. Slaves had no choice but to obey after all.

And no matter what such raw power often _did_ to lower caste minds.

* * *

Quite a while later

Brianna woke fully and completely this time.

She was in her tower and everything she could access said this was reality. She was calm. She felt whole. She was not alone in her bed. But the other golden skinned being was sitting on the far side of it, her head in her hands. The other golden female was crying. She seemed solid but not entirely. Sort of halfway there?

"Kaitlin?" Brianna asked very softly. The other Orokin spun, her tear streaked face a mix of shock, awe, fear and sorrow. Kaitlin stared at Brianna, her face creasing to pure sadness.

"You are awake. I am sorry." Kaitlin said weakly. "I have no excuse."

"Since when have high caste Orokin needed an excuse to do anything?" Brianna asked. Her tone could have been angry. It could have been accusatory. It could have been sad. It could have been all kinds of things, but it wasn't. She was calm. Nothing hurt now and she was calmer than she had been in weeks.

"Since we both were abused by Lorinos." Kaitlin started to rise, but Brianna slid close and grabbed her hand. It was solid enough to grab and Kaitlin did not resist. "Brianna, please. Let go. I cannot stay."

"You were gentle." Brianna mused as Kaitlin stared at the floor. "I didn't know that could be gentle."

In her experiences of such during her time with Lorinos, it had been _anything_ but gentle.

"Most just wanted it fast. Lorinos always wanted it fast. Speed, speed and more speed. That is all he ever wanted." Kaitlin sighed deeply and shook her head, laying her hand on Brianna's. "Instant gratification and then go on to do whatever the hell they wanted. Who cared how much doing it that way hurt people. How much Lorinos hurt you." She was crying hard now as Brianna stared at her. "I didn't know until we shared our rythyms! I didn't _know_ that he hurt you as badly or _worse_ than he hurt me! Damn it! Why didn't you _destroy_ him? He will come back! You _know_ he will!"

"I don't think the Empress will let him." Brianna said very softly.

"When he tells her what he did here..." Kaitlin started, but broke off as Brianna laid a finger across her lips.

"I told her." Brianna said very softly and Kaitlin stilled. "And you know what? You haven't seen angry until you have seen an angry Empress. I think she knew or at least suspected. She was very angry and I will need to report this." Kaitlin paled and Brianna pulled her into an embrace. "All of it. Thank you. I feel whole for the first time in a long time. Since I woke here after he changed me."

"That heretical piece of filth earned every ounce of pain." Kaitlin said with a growl and she laid her own arms around Brianna. Both were crying. "What he did to me, to you… What he did to so many humans in trying to make slaves… I..."

Both of them went still as the golden light in the room dimmed for a moment and when it came back up, two golden holograms stood near the door. One was young and wore a golden gown that she seemed uncomfortable in. The blue energy computer code that surrounded her fingers showed just how upset Jesse was. That paled beside the other golden gowned being. The other was older, harder and _her_ head bore a crown that was softly glowing gold. Kaitlin gasped and would have abased herself, but Brianna held her tight.

"Empress, Princess? May I present Kaitlin Executor?" Brianna said quietly. "She says that she was what escaped the containment tank Mary found."

"And you believe her." Eliza, the Empress of Orokin, said softly.

"I am not sure what to believe, honestly." Brianna said with a sigh. "We all know how he spun his lies."

"Tell me she is not is not listening to him! He will spin a story! It is what he does!" Kaitlin begged Brianna who hugged her gently but it was the Empress who answered.

"He tried." Eliza smiled just as grimly. "Brianna Executor took offense and tore his voice out. I left his voice box as it was. No one healed that before I dropped him into a stasis pocket that is slightly out of phase with our time. If he can escape the torments I left in it? He is welcome to. Then he _fries_ trying to get away from the Sun. Said pocket is ten meters from its surface." Kaitlin stared at her and then at Brianna who nodded.

"We may need him someday. The Empress said that I would… I would need his touch. His energy. But even as bad as it got, I couldn't bear the thought of him touching me again. Doing that to me again." She trailed off, unable to continue and Kaitlin slowly shook her head. Brianna slumped. "I didn't know it could be gentle."

"You… You were watching?" Kaitlin's face flamed, but Brianna hugged her.

"Of _course_ they are watching, Kaitlin." Brianna chided the other gently. "You _know_ what Lorinos was like. I _demanded_ full time surveillance. I cannot trust _myself_ after he remade me like this. You know better than most just how evil he was."

"I was too." Kaitlin said very softly and Brianna stilled. The Empress and Princess just looked at her and Kaitlin met their gazes. "I am betting you have records. That you know who I am." The Empress nodded. "What I did-" She broke off as the Empress raised a hand.

"What you did saved Brianna Executor's life." The Empress said softly. Kaitlin stared from her to Brianna. "We know how many are listed as to have died in your experiments. We know why you did that and those in this room are the _only_ ones who know that you are the only one who can make the proper formula."

"Then you must destroy me." Kaitlin said just as softly. Brianna stilled but Kaitlin continued. "This information must _not_ get out. I realized too late that Lorinos was not there to safeguard it, but to _use_ it." Her face turned to Brianna turned desolate. "On _you._"

"Stop!" Eliza commanded when Brianna opened her mouth. Brianna shut it with a click and Eliza nodded. "You knew this and far more, Brianna Executor. You asked to forget. We can make _you_ forget, Kaitlin Executor. We can give you a life, if not an easy one, then a life without that burden."

"Really?" Kaitlin pleaded. "You would… I mean… Who wouldn't want that?"

"Anyone _sane!_" Brianna snarled as she hugged Kaitlin again. "There are limits for a reason. There are rules for a reason. Next time, please ask before you take liberties with my mind or person, but this was an emergency, so I will accept it. _This time._" She smiled at Kaitlin, but it held dreadful promise. "Don't make me regret this."

"I want to say you won't, but I don't know. He was sneaky as hell! I… Empress, we are both of equal rank. My genetics are saying I have to assert authority and I don't _want_ to!" Kaitlin begged. "After so long in that damn tank with nothing to do but think… I realized that what I did was evil. Maybe the first few were volunteers, but I stopped asking and..." She slumped. "I killed so many chasing a nightmare. Now that I am corporeal again, my genetics are saying to take control and I don't want to!"

"Do you have to?" Eliza inquired. "There is ancient precedent."

"There is?" Kaitlin asked and then gasped. "No! She barely _knows_ me! I just… I just took liberties with her as she said! I cannot do that! She won't accept it!"

"Want to clue me in?" Brianna asked. The look that Kaitlin shared with her was equal parts fear and shame. "Um..."

"There is one way that Orokin shared power. Once, long ago." Kaitlin's tone was odd. She was clearly unhappy, but at the same time, curious? "Long before the Council and all of us went totally crazy with power. Before it became the be-all and end-all of our beings. We were much like humans, but not. We had the same feelings. The same desires. The same wants and needs. That changed over a very long time. Just the thought of sharing power was unthinkable for someone like Lorinos, hence why he was kicked off the Council for abusing his powers."

"And?" Brianna all but demanded as Kaitlin slid to the floor, her odd gray garment shimmering silver in the blue light of Jesse's code.

"And, when our kind emerged, decades after Orokin was founded, we found ways to co-exist. To appear human." Kaitlin looked at the Empress and shook her head. "She won't accept it and I don't blame her. There is another way."

"_No!_" Eliza shouted as Kaitlin knelt in front of Brianna and bowed her head. "Don't! You don't..."

[Brianna Executor, I offer myself and my service to-] Kaitlin began in Old Orokin, but broke off as Brianna screamed. Kaitlin stared as odd blue energy suddenly surrounded Brianna who fought it, but her golden power seemed to have no effect. "What? No!" Kaitlin tried to rise, but was stuck in place. She stared at herself and she was surrounded by blue energy code.

"_LEAVE HER ALONE!_" Jesse shouted as blue code swept the room, it hit the blue energy around Brianna and was rebuffed.

"The Void knows its own." A cold, smug male voice sounded and then Brianna's last wailing scream cut off as the energy surrounding her vanished and she did as well.

"Oh my god." Kaitlin begged as all three of the female forms stared at where Brianna had been. "What have I _done?_"

"It wasn't you." Jesse's tone was fierce as the door flew open and several forms rushed in, most with weapons in hand that they aimed at Kaitlin. "It wasn't her!" Jesse snapped and everyone flinched as her code flared. "It was Nef Anyo."

"How could _he_ have…?" Kaitlin trailed off as horrific knowledge dawned. "Lorinos wasn't working alone, was he?"

"No, he wasn't." Eliza's hologram took a step to stand in front of Kaitlin who started to heave in grief. "Kaitlin Executor, this was not your fault. This had to have been planned for. She might _not_ have accepted my idea. It would have shocked her, no doubt. I don't know. Maybe she would have been disgusted. Maybe not."

"And now I have killed her?" Kaitlin demanded.

"Anyo won't kill her." Jesse's tone was so cold that more than one person in the room winced. "But she will pray for it."

Kaitlin broke down and sobbed.

* * *

Venus Orbit

Brianna slammed into a metal deck and was suddenly surrounded by energy. It wasn't Orokin energy. The deck was colors that she had prayed she would never see again. She had seen them on Corpus troops sent to Europa to investigate odd energy readings there. Troops that Daniel had taken prisoner and had Brianna 'adjust' to serve him. A task she had promised never to gain. The few survivors of the troops had asked to go back to their service once freed from Daniel's enslavement and now? Brianna understood why.

"Well, well, well..." A voice she did not know spoke up form nearby, but Brianna did not look up. She heard boots on cold metal as well as many metal feet striking the same metal, but again, she did not look up. "The Void promised a miracle and here it is."

"Your _Void_ is more than likely praying for death right now, Nef Anyo." Brianna kept her voice calm through sheer force of will. If she had still been hurt? She likely would have fallen apart at any of this and been doomed. She blessed Kaitlin's intervention. Awake and aware? She had a chance, if not a large one."He was as much of a fake as you are."

"You will take us to the tower. You will serve the Void as promised." Anyo didn't seem to hear her.

"No." Brianna replied evenly. Boots were surrounding her now and she smiled grimly. Her senses were still heightened and she could almost taste the fear in the Corpus troops as she slowly rolled to sit in the energy prison. She folded her legs, raised her hand and laid her chin fist. A somewhat different take on a very old human sculpture called 'The Thinker'. "I will not."

"You will take us to the tower before it destabilizes." Nef Anyo said as if talking to a somewhat dense child. "You do not wish to lose your home and we wish to restore order to this system in the name of Profit. That tower will make a good base to start over from."

"It won't." Brianna smiled as she looked and Anyo was a hologram behind the wall of troops and proxies. "And for the record? Your 'Friendly Neighborhood _Void_' took me there against my will. I do not know how to get back. I specifically asked to forget the coordinates for just such an occurrence." She smiled at the sudden blank look on his face. "And if you try? There were all kinds of people who wanted to hurt you. Now? There are _more_." Her smile now might have frightened a Lanx. "I will not help you."

"You do not understand, Void Angel Brianna." Brianna did not react at Anyo's knowledge of her name. "We are here to help you, not the other way around."

"Really?" Brianna managed to put several lifetimes worth of derision into that one word.

"Yes." Anyo actually looked relived as Brianna scoffed at him. "It is as he said. They hurt you. We can and _must_ help you. The Void knows its own and you are the Void."

"As of any of you fools have any idea what you are doing." Brianna replied but then _golden power_ flared around her and it was dragging her down into…

All she could do was scream as she was thrown into darkness that was tinged with gold.

A _familiar_ darkness.

Hers.

* * *

Titan

Janet flinched, her massive aquatic bulk reacting to the scream that tore across the solar system. Few would hear it. Fewer still would understand what it meant. Those few would all be _terrified_.

_Idiot!_ The preeminent Oracle of Saturn snapped in her mind. _Of all the _**stupid**_… Oh crap! Everyone! Plan Six! Merge! Now!_

All of the Oracles bent with their leader towards a single goal. A single mind. One they had to buffer from what was about to happen or everything was lost.

_Kaitlin Executor… Hear us! Know what you have to do!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorrow**

Kaitlin Executor did not think, she simply reacted as stupendous mental power slammed into her. She saw horrors in her mind and reacted as directed even as heretical as the thought was. This was Brianna's tower, not hers. She reached out with her mind and the Tower, momentarily confused as to this change in authorization, but accepting it as proper with Executor genetics, reacted to her wishes by bolstering all of its shields to their maximum levels.

"Empress! Princess! Shield yourselves! Everyone else! Hold on to something or some_one!_" Kaitlin shouted as the Tower rocked. Both golden holograms vanished, Jesse's code vanishing as well. "This is going to _hurt!_"

Kat had run close and Kaitlin grabbed hold of the terrified woman, pulling her to the bed where both fell to lie as the Tower continued to rock. Kaitlin was careful not to hurt Kat even when Kat struck at her. Such would not end well.

"Let go of me! What the hell is going on?" Kat snapped. The rocking subsided and Kaitlin released the angry woman.

"That idiot Anyo just hurt Brianna!" Kaitlin snapped right back. "And he has _no idea_ what he just unleashed. Even Lorinos learned not to let her loose!" Everyone stared at her vehemence. "Um... I guess I better introduce myself. I am Kaitlin. Is Mary okay?" She begged as Iriana ran into room.

"Who are you and what have you done with Brianna?" Iriana demanded, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"My name is Kaitlin Executor and I think I may have just caused Brianna to be taken by Nef Anyo." Kaitlin wilted as everyone glared at her. "I didn't plan that. I thought to serve _her_, but…" She slumped and started to cry. "I bet Lorinos planned _this_ too!"

"Of course he did." Kaitlin's eyes shot up at the familiar voice. A young Tenno was escorted into the room by a Saryn warframe and he stilled as her tears stopped and her eyes hardened. "Hello, Kaitlin Executor."

"Hello?" For a long moment, Kaitlin simply felt shock. Then rage flowed. "You _locked me in that damn tank for him to play with and you say_ '_Hello_'?" The scream was cold, hard and merciless as golden power came to her hands. Then it faded. She stared at her hands and then at Kat who slowly shook her head, golden power haloing her for just a moment.

"You are not her, you do not rule here." Kat's voice might have bent iron.

"No. I don't. _Don't_ lower the shields!" Kaitlin begged. "I don't know what he did to her, but I can guess! If she _falls._.."

"...then we haven't seen problems." Micah said and then flinched back as Kaitlin took a step towards him, her hands up to rend and tear even without power. "I know what I did, Kaitlin Executor. Do you know what _you_ did?"

"Yes." Kaitlin all but threw the word at the unarmored Tenno. "I have an idea of how many I killed. Do you have any idea how many _he_ killed? I was _awake_ and _you_ were in _cryo!_ He wouldn't let me go mad, he needed what is in my head! You… You _put_ me in there! You didn't even _bother_ knocking me unconscious! I was awake the whole time, you piece of Tenno excrement!"

"He commanded it, I had to obey." Micah slowly knelt despite several gasps from several others. "I wronged you. At his orders, but I did wrong you. I can make no excuse for what I did, because I did it." He looked at the Sayrn who stood beside him. "Let her take my life if she desires. She has earned it."

"I can't do that." The Saryn replied. "You know I can't after I took responsibility." Then she shrugged. "Not that she _can_ kill you with bare hands and no power. But I bet she can hurt you."

"And she has that right." Micah said quietly. "I did what she says. I put her in the tank and it held her. Awake and aware. It was a stasis tank, so time didn't matter in there, but-"

"_SHUT UP!_" Kaitlin screamed, throwing herself at the kneeling Tenno. Of all people, _Iriana_ grabbed her and held her despite her frenzied struggles. "_Let me go! I will kill him!_" She tried to break free but Iriana was well versed in handling difficult patients and far stronger than even an Orokin could hope to be without power.

Instead of anger though, Iriana made a soft noise of consternation. "Another victim. I see. Shhh, easy… Easy… Don't let your rage take control." Everyone made way for her as she carried Kaitlin's struggling form towards the bed. Kat stared at the Tenno Healer and then she nodded, her face set. "Don't do anything rash, Ma'am. We need more information. What happened to Brianna?"

"I have to-" Kaitlin gave herself a firm shake and relaxed fully in Iriana's grip. "You are right, Healer. I am not the important one here. Healer, I... Brianna Executor was fading despite the best everyone could do. Just like Mary, there was no physical malady to fix. There was no way to help her that any of you could find. I could and realized I had to despite the danger. There wasn't anything you could do and no one would let her in reach of Lorinos. With reason." She said sourly. "He would get stupid and it would get messy."

"What did you _do?_" Iriana laid Kaitlin on the bed and held her down. Not that the Orokin was resisting now.

"I soothed her rhythms." Kaitlin said quietly. "And yes, before anyone asks, I did it without her consent." No one reacted and she slumped, her tears slowing and stopping. "It worked. She was healed. She forgave me. She is so much better than me. Or… she was." She said in a tiny voice. "And then… I got her captured." She slumped and tears were falling again. "I didn't mean to! I just… My genetics were demanding that I take the tower from her. This place was mine before Lorinos came." She glared at Micah through tear streaked eyes. "With _him._"

"What did you do?" Iriana asked, her hand now stroking the sobbing Orokin's scalp. "Clearly you know who and what Nef Anyo is and you don't like him any more than we do."

"I read fast and could access most of the tower's records. I woke here after a cataclysmic battle." Kaitlin said softly but clearly enough that everyone could hear her. "I had to shift to energy form to survive in the tank. I was trapped in a containment vessel that was damaged in the fighting. You know how hard it is to hold a pure Orokin." Iriana nodded. "It was a stasis device. I was awake and aware, but unaware of how long passed between Lorinos' 'visits'." The last word held rage as deep any Tenno's. "Only after Mary found the tank and tried to pull me free of it did I understand exactly how long it had been. I was energy form, but I could touch things. I tried not to hurt her, Healer. I swear I tried not to hurt her! The being I was would have done so without hesitation, but I am not her anymore. Lorinos' evil lusts burned that heartless woman to ash. I didn't know if he would come back! Or if _that one_ was free!" She glared at Micah again. "I had to hide, regain my solidity. I did. But then Brianna was sick and Mary was dying and it is my fault! I had to do something no matter the cost to me!" She was all but babbling now and her physical form seemed to phase. Iriana sighed.

"Calm." Iriana said firmly. "Be calm." Kaitlin took a shuddering breath and the another. "Good. Just breathe. Don't think. Just breathe. Hold your form. Don't think about anything but breathing. Just hold your form."

"It is my fault!" Kaitlin sobbed but her form did stabilize and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as she slumped on the bed. "I... I surrender, Healer. Do with me what you will. This is my fault."

"No." Micah spoke up from where he knelt. "This is firmly on Lorinos' shoulders and mine, Kaitlin Orokin." Kaitlin inhaled sharply, but Iriana grabbed Kaitlin's jaw in a firm hand and turned it to face the Healer instead.

"Close your eyes! Focus on breathing." Iriana commanded and Kaitlin nodded, her eyes closing tightly. "Nothing else. Get him _out_ of here!" She snapped and the Saryn grabbed Micah and but hauled him towards the door. Smart Tenno, he did not resist. Only after the door closed behind them did she speak again. "Easy Kaitlin, easy. Such violations are no joke at all for anyone, but for people like us, when we lose control, bad things happen."

"I know." Kaitlin sobbed. "I am sorry. Do with me what you will, but please don't put me back in that tank!"

"Don't give us cause." Iriana looked at Kat who slumped a bit and nodded. "What does he want with Brianna beside the fact that she is Executor?" Kaitlin bowed her head but Iriana squeezed her hand again. "We need to know."

"It is her secret, not mine." Kaitlin said weakly. Iriana glared at her and Kaitlin wilted. "I can't, Healer. She is more important than I am."

"You are wrong." Two holograms appeared beside the bed. One was Eliza and she was not happy. The other was a human woman in white who wore a veil that covered her face. It did not cover the burn scar on her cheek. The Empress had spoken and she did again before Kaitlin could protest. "You may be her only chance, Kaitlin Executor."

"I..." Kaitlin swallowed hard. "Brianna Executor isn't the woman I knew. She is far kinder now than she was when she had her change of heart. Before Lorinos hurt her and drove her mad."

"_What?_" More than one person in the room exclaimed the same thing, but Eliza held up a hand and everyone shut up.

"Empress, please!" Kaitlin begged. "She does not deserve this!"

"I know." Eliza said heavily. "But we _all_ need to know now. It is not your fault." She reassured the distraught Orokin.

"I feel it is." Kaitlin said weakly. "But my feelings are all messed up after so long in that tank. One thing I _do_ know. What I did was wrong. I thought it was for the greater good, but in the end? It hurt far more than it saved. I had time to think. To postulate probabilities."

"And almost all were bad." The white garbed woman said with a nod that Kaitlin returned.

"About 95% of them, yes." The Orokin slumped and then nodded to everyone. "My name is Kaitlin Executor. I built this tower long ago. I was a biologist and micro-biologist. My focus was on cellular regeneration. During my research, I discovered an ancient text that spoke of a formula that remade a human into something different. Something greater than human. Something that we Orokin had no name for." Several people inhaled and she bowed her head as Iriana gave her hand another squeeze. "Being a complete idiot, I decided to research that. Being an amoral Orokin _ass_, I did as I usually did, with no regard for _life or sanity_."

The torrent of self hate in her voice had more than one person recoiling. Iriana just sighed and sat down on the bed beside Kaitlin who stared at her through streaming eyes.

"Don't fall apart." Iriana commanded. "We need you." Kaitlin stared at her, confused.

"You don't trust me." Concern sang in Kaitlin's voice. Concern for Iriana? "You can't after what you endured."

"I shouldn't but you haven't lied that I know of and Mary is sleeping comfortably. You saved her life." Iriana said with a small, sad smile. "And while I was not watching or listening, I _did_ see Brianna's vitals suddenly improve. You helped her."

"And then I got her _caught_ by a nutcase!" Kaitlin all but screamed that. "I am a _moron!_"

"How could you have known?" Iriana just held her hand.

"That scum defines evil! He is heartless and evil!" Kaitlin was crying again, but softer this time. "I should have known he had more plans. He had plans for when I realized he was lying to me! I just…"

"What happened?" Iriana pressed. Kaitlin looked at her and then at the Empress who waved permission.

"I was focused on my work." Kaitlin said weakly but her voice solidified when no one interrupted. "I can make no excuse for what I did. How many subjects I killed. I finally had a breakthrough and my only Dax..." She swallowed hard. "He volunteered to try the formula." She bowed her head. "It killed him."

"What was his name?" Iriana asked gently. Kaitlin didn't seem to hear her and the Healer gave her hand another squeeze. "Kaitlin, what was his name?"

"His name was Oriso Dax." Eliza said very quietly and Kaitlin nodded. "You did not kill him, Kaitlin Executor."

"What?" Kaitlin asked, staring at the Empress through wide eyes, She dashed her free hand across her face, trying wipe the tears away. "I did." She contradicted the hologram. "I gave him the formula and it killed him."

"No, you did not." Eliza's face was set and no one dared inquire. "Your research was known and there were those who wanted it stopped. That is all I can say."

"Why not kill _me?_" Kaitlin begged. "I went nuts after that!"

"I don't know." Eliza said heavily. "That is not in the records. I can guess, but it would just be a guess. We should not inquire." She warned.

"As you wish, Empress." Kaitlin said softly. "I… When he perished I decided that I would make it work, in memory of him. I did things that turn my stomach. I killed so many people, trying to get it to work. I do not know how many were volunteers and how many were sent to me saying they volunteered. I know Lorinos did that, others too probably." She was fighting not to cry now.

"Your subjects." Iriana just held her hand. "Were any of them children?"

"No." Kaitlin said with a growl. "That wasn't adherence to laws, rules or any sense of altruism. I didn't care about any of that. Children would not have been good test subjects. Their bodies are usually in flux and I… I..." She trailed off and then was heaving. "Empress! _Please!_" The Empress did not answer. Someone else did.

"Brianna needs you, Kaitlin Executor." Even without being able to see her eyes, it was clear that the Oracle was glowering at her. "Calm down."

"I..." Kaitlin took several deep breaths and visibly calmed herself. "Yes, Ma'am." At that, _everyone_ stilled. What kind of high caste Orokin called a _human_ that? Kaitlin actually managed a smile as Iriana stared at her. "I read about who she is, what she did. And no, I do not want her _or_ her mate angry with me." She inclined her head to the Oracle. "If there is anyone in this room who will understand the bond of pain that Brianna and I share, Oracle will."

"I do. I saw some of it." The Oracle said with a matching nod. "You have my sympathy, but you are needed."

"Yes, Ma'am." Kaitlin closed her eyes and took another long, deep breath, trying to relax. Iriana smiled encouragement as the Orokin slowly calmed. Kaitlin opened her eyes and looked at Kat. "I met Brianna Enginus here. I had been indiscreet in some of my research and Lorinos Orokin had gotten wind of my project. He came with honeyed words and promises of greatness. Even as distracted as I was, I didn't believe him entirely. That said, he was a Councilor. His authority was absolute. I had to do as he asked. I gave him space to work and resources."

"Brianna served Lorinos?" Kat asked, dumbfounded. "Wait, yes." She made a face. "I remember. She was there. She was kind to me."

"She always was." Kaitlin said sadly. "Every moment of every day, she was kind to everyone. Even Lorinos." She grimaced. "Especially him. She loved him and he said he loved her. I didn't pay much attention. I was busy."

"What happened?" Kat repeated the question as she too moved to the bed and sat, taking Kaitlin's other hand in her own.

"I was focused on my research but several of my samples went missing." The Orokin was tense, but calmed when both woman gave her hands a squeeze. "I went to Lorinos and asked him about them. He said he was doing further research and I couldn't say no. I mean, he was Council!" She shook her head. "His words rang false to me so I took steps. I added a tracker to the sample cases and the next time one vanished, I followed when Brianna took it at his orders. I managed to stay out of sight of her and him while they injected another subject with my creation. That subject died, but before she did, I saw golden skin appear on her arms."

"Oh crap." Iriana inhaled and Kaitlin nodded.

"Yes, even then, he was trying to make Orokin." Kaitlin looked at the Empress. "My guess is that someone took offense at that. Because the Tower was attacked shortly after that by a team of human mercenaries. Exceptionally well trained and equipped human mercenaries." The Empress met her gaze and did not react. "In the battle, I was hurt. Looking back? I am surprised I survived."

"Likely, no one wanted you dead." Eliza said very softly and Kaitlin stilled. "Just the _medical_ benefits of your formula would have been incalculable wealth to any who managed to hold it. But Orokin did not share power."

"No." Kaitlin sighed. "I woke up with Brianna tending my wounds. I had been knocked out and none of the wounds were life threatening. I didn't understand how I survived until Lorinos' pet assassin came and took me. He tossed me into that tank. That was when I knew I had been betrayed. I refused to talk to Lorinos, so he got Brianna to work on me."

"'Work'?" Iriana asked, fear in her eyes. "Did she torture you?"

"No." Kaitlin had soft, sad smile on her face now. "You know Brianna. Torture is unreliable at the best of times. Even at her worst, when she went off the deep end, she _never_ hurt people." Her smile turned sick. "She never _had_ to."

"And why did she go 'off the deep end'?" Iriana inquired, but from her eyes, she knew. Kaitlin nodded.

"Me."


	8. Chapter 8

**Twists**

"You." Iriana stared at the Orokin as Kaitlin bowed her head. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No. You are a Healer." Kaitlin said heavily. "You mend what you can, aid where you can, ease when you must. You know what Brianna is. What she always was." Iriana stared at her and blanched. "Yes, she was and is a Mind Healer. You know how she works, what she can do without trying. How she can make you feel wanted. Special even. How she can make you wish to be her friend. Even if you didn't want to be one."

"No!" Iriana hissed. "Brianna would _never_ do that!"

"The Brianna you know wouldn't." Kaitlin said sadly, looking at the Empress who looked away. "I hope she doesn't remember all of what she was forced to do to me." The Empress shook her head, silent and Kaitlin relaxed a little. "She was a kind soul, even when bound heart and soul to Lorinos. Even when he ordered her to break my resistance, she was kind in doing so. She was gentle. I resisted her interrogations _because_ they were gentle. She didn't want to hurt me. She knew that hurting me would make me even more stubborn or let me die and lose the information they needed. She probably would have worn me down in time, but she wasn't given that time by her master." She looked at Kat who had paled. "I do not know exactly _when_ he did what he did to you, Kat Mother of Zephyr, but I read the file Brianna made about you. The tower considered me an authorized user, so I had access to every file Brianna made here. But for what it is worth? _I _feel bound by _her_ oath of patient confidentiality. I read it, but I will not speak of what you discussed with her. I will not break your confidence. Lorinos came to me after he hurt you and your mother blew his lab to hell. He used my facilities to replace what he had lost to your mother's wrath. Here."

"Pity she missed him." Kat said with a grunt.

"From what I understood, Zephyr took a hefty chunk out of him, but you know how robust our kind are." Kaitlin shook her head. "If your mother _had_ managed to stay to make sure she killed him? You might have perished. Such a battle likely would have killed Brianna too. She was there."

"Doing what?" Kat demanded. "She doesn't remember that. I barely do."

"Keeping you alive and trying to keep you sane despite Lorinos' best efforts according to what little I heard pass between the two of them while I was a prisoner." Kaitlin gave Kat's hand a squeeze. "She was fraying even then, I think. What she saw happen to you was probably the start of the frisson that ended with her facing Lorinos in front of my tank and telling him she would _not_ hurt me no matter his wishes." She looked at the floor. "He was displeased with her."

"I bet." Kat swallowed hard. "He did not take that well, did he?"

"No." Kaitlin pursed her lips. "He struck her physically. Once that I saw. I did not see all of what happened after and thought it a trick. Maybe it was but not entirely. My tank had a screen that could block my view of the outside and it was activated after he knocked her into a wall. When it came down, Brianna was sitting in a corner, bleeding. She was rocking herself and giggling. Lorinos demanded my formula to heal her with and I refused. I thought her state of mind was a trick. I was wrong."

"Damn." Iriana was hardly the only one to curse softly.

"All this time, I thought it was a trick and it wasn't." Kaitlin was crying again, but softly. "I touched her mind to ease her today and the scars are still there. He broke her. Even when she was so angry with my intransigence, she was gentle and kind to me. And that slime in Orokin form _BROKE HER!_"

She did not quite scream that. Iriana and Kat both squeezed her hands and she forced herself to relax again.

"So, how did she come back?" That was from Eliza. "If she was insane, then he would have discarded her. That was the usual pattern. Use something until it is no longer useful, discard it and get a new one."

"I don't know." Kaitlin admitted. "He took full control of her, made her do things to me, but it was easy to see that she was a puppet with no awareness. I didn't blame her." She made a face. "Well, I did not blame her more than I had before. I really hated them all. Then one day, she came in and she was as she had been. I have no idea how long it was. Time meant nothing in that tank. She started where she had left off. Kind and gentle. Maybe he mind-wiped the horror from her memory?" She asked Eliza who frowned. The Empress looked at Iriana who matched her frown.

"That likely would not have worked." Iriana said after a moment. "If she had lost it completely, then a mind wipe would have left her a blank slate. She was the same?" She asked.

"I think so, but I was a bit befuddled, Healer." Kaitlin said heavily. "I will submit to mind scans if you decree. I didn't mean to hurt her. I certainly did not mean to let anyone _take_ her! I wanted to help her and Mary. No more. I am not who I was, but you cannot know that. I surrendered and I will abide by that."

"You are a mess." Iriana said as parts of Kaitlin's left leg phased again. Kaitlin stared at it and made a face. Her leg solidified and Iriana smiled. "Good girl."

"I try?" Kaitlin said weakly. "_Now_ anyway. We have to help Brianna! I hated her for so long and it wasn't her fault!"

"We need to corroborate your story." Iriana said quietly. "You won't enjoy that." She looked at the Empress and Oracle. Both nodded to her and vanished.

"_You_ are highly unlikely to torture me because you can or lock me in a containment tank for thousands of years." Kaitlin said with a soft, sad smile. Iriana grinned at her and Kaitlin sighed. "I hope I helped Mary. As I said, I am no healer. Just a biologist who had far too much time to think. I saw her for just a few minutes and I could tell she was a good kid."

"You eased her. We will have to see how that goes, but she is sleeping now and shows no signs of seizures for the first night in a week." Iriana reassured her as she eased Kaitlin further up the bed. She glanced at Kat who nodded, released Kaitlin's hand and retreated a step. "That is more than any of us managed. You need to sleep now."

"I fear my dreams, Healer." Kaitlin said softly as she lay back on the bed. "I fear how I may react in my dreams." She jerked. "_Oh!_ I need to apologize to the kitten in the Sentinel!"

"In the _morning_." Iriana's tone brooked no dissension and Kaitlin nodded. "We can handle your dreams. Close your eyes, girl. Just a little energy and it will all be better." She laid the back of her free hand against Kaitlin's cheek and Kaitlin smiled, but it held fear.

"Yes, Healer." Kaitlin did not react as Tanah swept close and a beam of green energy reached out from the Sentient to touch her forehead. She gasped and then lay still.

_She is not faking that._ Tanah's tone held disapproval, but of what? _Just a basic scan shows her mind is __a torrent of pain and fear__._

"We all know how evil Lorinos was. How twisted his plots were. We will check, but gently." Iriana paused as Kieko pushed her way into the room. She was carrying Elena's sentinel and it was all but quivering with fury and fear. "Kieko. Elena." She protested.

"I just heard." Kieko looked as if she was about to faint. "Anyo took her?" Iriana nodded, walked to the former Clergywoman and embraced her. "I… Why wasn't I here to help Brianna?" She asked weakly.

"Don't do that to yourself, Kieko." Iriana gave the all but crying woman a shake. "You cannot control everything any more than I can. We do our best and sometimes, it just isn't enough."

"And this one?" Kieko asked, looking at Kaitlin's slumbering face.

"I don't know." Iriana admitted. "The way she is acting, she is either an incredible actress or she is victim of Lorinos' evil just like Brianna and Kat were. Just like you were. She is Orokin, but apparently, there _was_ someone in that tank that Mary claimed someone was in. Poor girl had that seizure just after and no one was in there when Brianna checked." Iriana made a face. "From what Kaitlin here has said, she caused it, but unwittingly. She may have fixed what she did. We will have to see."

"Kaitlin?" Kieko asked, confused and then she gasped as Kaitlin's arm phased a little, Tanah did something and her arm solidified. Kieko swallowed hard as the Orokin limb reformed. "Oh dear."

_So long trapped in energy form may have unhinged her mind._ Tanah said sadly. _She seems to feel a debt to Brianna, Mary and others. We will corroborate that._

"What can I do?" Kieko asked in a tiny voice. "I cannot help Brianna and..." Kieko swallowed hard as Elena hissed a bit but Kieko held the sentinel even as it tried to take off. Iriana reacted before anyone else could.

"No, Elena." The healer laid a hand on the Sentinel and it subsided. "Don't be mad, kitten. She helped Mary. You would not have let her and she knew it. She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No." Elena's response was more than a but sullen, but she _did_ respond. "She just appeared and I couldn't move! She left me able to talk, but I couldn't move!" Fear sang in the kitten's tone and Iriana nodded.

"You know? You and Kieko were not here." Iriana mused and everyone stared at her. "The kids?"

"The kids were all terrified when the tower rocked." Kieko was quick to reassure the Healer when Iriana paled. "I told them there was a problem, but it was under control. That was the truth, no?"

"Mostly." Iriana groaned halfheartedly. "Brianna was connected to the tower when whatever happened to her did. It likely was trying to help her. Kaitlin kept the systems from destabilizing, throwing all of its power to wherever Brianna was. That would not have ended well for any of us." Understatement!

"So… _she_ is control?" Kieko could not keep fear from her voice as she stared at Kaitlin.

"No." Kat stepped close and took hold of the Sentinel in Kieko's hands. "I am. Brianna made me the backup since no one will touch me. I don't have the genetics, but with Brianna's authorization and Olim's code, the tower accepts me."

"Smart tower." Elena said with a gulp. Everyone grinned at that and then Elena heaved an all too human sigh. "What do we do, Healer?" She asked, her voice her own age for the moment. Kittens grew fast, and she had no organic body, but she had been created less than a year ago.

"For now, we let Kaitlin sleep. We guard her." The Healer said after a moment. "She is distraught from what happened. She caused it, but from what she said? Unwittingly. Lorinos seems to have hurt her just as badly as anyone else, and for far longer. She is having difficulty maintaining her form and if she shifts completely to energy, we won't be able to hold her without hurting her. I do not want to hurt her. We can certainly use her."

"_If_ she is telling the truth." Kat said with a growl that echoed many wolves.

"Kat." Iriana chided the other gently and Kat flushed a little. "I don't think she is lying. Do you?"

"I don't know." Kat admitted. "She seems honest enough, but Lorinos did too from what I remember about him." She shuddered and Iriana reached out to give her a squeeze. "I just… I cannot trust her."

"Good." Iriana reassured Kat who stared at her. "I may be too empathetic in this case. You know how Tanah feels about beings in pain. Neither of us will be clear headed about this. We need people who can remain objective. Can you do that, Kat?"

"I think so." Kat sounded more than a bit dubious. "I mean, I am better after talking with you and Brianna." She gave a tiny sob. "And everyone else." She paused. "Well, _mostly_ everyone else."

Iriana looked at her and both shared a sick look. Yes, they knew who she was talking about. The female human who hadn't _been_ one had been kind and gentle, but there had always been the feeling of 'huge, hungry predator'. The good news was that when Oris and Galintra had gone back to wherever they had gone, the Lady of the Darkstorms had gone with them. The bad? She had promised to visit Kat. She had been excellent company and wonderful with the kids, but _still…_

Sitting and chatting with a _dragon_ was _**not**_ for the faint of heart. Even a friendly one!

"You can't do it alone." Iriana gave herself a shake. "If nothing else, _you_ will need sleep."

"Kieko and Elena were not here." Kat said after a moment. "They didn't hear her. Those of us who are, even those of us who felt his evil first hand will have trouble dealing with her as anything but a traumatized female."

"That would upset just about everyone here." Kieko said softly. "As a way to gain trust?"

"She repeatedly says that we cannot trust her. She did surrender to me." Iriana shrugged as Kieko stared at her. "I don't know what to think. We will do a mindscan tomorrow. I will set it up before I go to bed." She blew out a deep breath. "And I need to talk to Elena's mother too. I doubt she will be happy."

"She calls Brianna friend." Elena said softly. "No, she won't be happy. Healer… I can help ward Kieko. She won't disable me so easily a second time."

"No disintegrations." Iriana said flatly and everyone in the room stared at her. Elena gave a choked noise and Iriana smiled. It was not a nice smile. "Your mom took your gun. I _know_ she will not have taken _all_ of your defenses. She is not that stupid. _No. Disintegrations._"

"Um... I… Uh..." Elena sputtered, but Kieko saved her, hugging the Sentinel close.

"You cannot deny her the right to protect herself, Healer." Kieko said firmly. "If you try, I will ask that she be sent home. You and Brianna helped her when no one else could and she feels a debt. But if she is not safe here, then she cannot stay here."

"She is safe here." Kat said firmly. "Only Brianna and Kaitlin have the right genetics to access the tower and I have the codes, so no one else can take control without setting off all kinds of alarms. Not even Brianna now. If Brianna _has_ been subverted or something, then I can protect the tower and its inhabitants. I never thought to use that protocol, but..." She swallowed hard. "...if he _did_ hurt her, _alter_ her..."

"We do not know what happened." Iriana cautioned everyone. "For now? We need rest and to try and get things back on track. Will and Alicia are here to help. This Micah will need to be vetted." She blew out a deep breath. "And _that_ is going to be so much fun."

"We will stay." Kat moved to one wall and a couch slid out of it for her to sit on. Kieko smiled and moved to join her on the couch. Elena took off and hovered near the ceiling, the Sentinel all but humming in readiness.

Tanah didn't move even as Iriana glared at the Sentient.

_She may need me._ Tanah sounded resigned. _I could not help Mary._

"And if she subverts _you_ somehow? With words or whatever?" Iriana demanded but her heart wasn't in it. She growled in annoyance as he ignored her. "Fine! _Be_ that way. _You_ can explain it to your Mother! I'll check on the others." Her glare sent everyone else scurrying from the room. All but one. Kat did not move until Iriana started for the door. "Kat..." The Healer groaned.

"I have explicit instructions from your mate, your warlord, the Empress, the Oracle _and_ Grandmaster Nikis." Kat said with a glower that was spoiled by a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth. "You _will_ eat. Now."

"Kat!" Iriana protested as Kat took hold of her arm and gently, but firmly led her from the room.

Everyone waited for the door to hiss shut before bursting into soft laughter so as not to disturb Kaitlin's slumber. Everyone knew that Iriana was such a good soul, but also knew that she did not remember to eat. She was not a Warrior, but single-minded to the point of obstinacy at times. Everyone was bound and determined to keep her from overdoing it again. Everyone.

"Elena? Abigail says we are clear for the moment." Kieko said after a look at her wrist and the communication device there. Lavender code swept around the room from the sentinel!

_We are clear. Kat is distracted and the systems are reading what __Abigail and __I want them to. We have time, but not a lot. __I do not like deceiving them._ Tanah said sadly as the lavender code flowed to the floor and solidified into a holographic kavat who stalked towards the bed. _Your Majesty, she did not hurt Elena!_

"Mom! She didn't hurt me!" Elena moved to hover between the bed and the clearly furious kavat. "She scared me, but she didn't hurt me."

_Then I think it is time to scare _**her**_._ The Queen of Cats was not happy at all as she focused her power and lavender code swept out to enclose Kaitlin who gave a small shriek as she opened her eyes. She stared down at the kavat and slumped. _What did I __tell__ you, Kaitlin Executor?_ The kavat demanded angrily. _What did I _**tell**_ you when you contacted me?_

"To hide until you could figure out how to judge me." Kaitlin did not move. Wise as Tanah's energy was pulsing around her in addition to Liriel's. "I nearly killed Mary, Queen Liriel! I didn't mean to, but I did. Touching my energy hurt her. I couldn't just stand by and let her die! And.. And Brianna was fading… She is needed. I... I have no excuse."

_A child's life or no… __You may have doomed us all!_ The kavat retorted. _You are supposed to be smart! That wasn't smart!_ _You knew he had plans. You knew she was subverted once before! You… You moron._

"I had to do _something_." Kaitlin said weakly. "Mary was dying."

"And touching Brianna felt good." Kieko said flatly. Kaitlin bowed her head, accepting the rebuke. "Your Majesty, I understand your rage. I truly understand your ire after you and yours helped me. But we cannot do this alone and he _will_ have plans for Tenno involvement. Lorinos and Anyo both will have plans." Liriel hissed but Kieko wasn't done. "I will act as cut out if you wish, my liege."

_No._ Liriel snarled, but it was clearly frustrated, not angry. _No, __t__his is my duty and my responsibility. __My hate is getting in the way and I must move past that. __I will do it. __None of mine will be placed in her hands again, ever._

_Contact Horatius._ Tanah interjected. _He can set it up and make it utterly untraceable._

_Nothing is untraceable, Tanah. You know that. _Liriel sighed deeply but then nodded._ I will. Elena… __You are vulnerable here. I will__ activate your rifle._

"No, Mother!" Elena snapped and it was clear that the kavat had not expected the kitten to say that. "Do not activate my weapon! Everyone said the same and they were right. A weapon and sick kids do _not_ mix. I am all right. Kaitlin Executor did not hurt me."

"I know better." Kaitlin said weakly as the Queen of Cats glared at her. "For the insult of disabling you, I offer apology, Princess Elena. I was very concerned for Mary, but that is no excuse for rudeness."

Of course, Elena had to have the last word. "Yeah, _I_ am the only one allowed to be rude!"

Or not.

_I am proud of you, Elena. So hurt, so scared and so wanting to do the right thing._ Liriel patted Elena's Sentinel. _I will meet the Reverend Mother. Alone._

No one knew what to say to that, so everyone just nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

**Meetings**

The virtual environment felt utterly neutral. Or scared spitless. Either one might serve.

It was not every day that the Queen of Cats met the Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy. The kavat made no bones about her feelings about the Corpus. The only humans in the employ of any of the Board who left her domain were Special Forces troops. The fates of the others were horrific in the extreme. Then again, they had earned her ire as had the Reverend Mother.

The not-quite-a-nun was tense as she appeared on the virtual landscape. She was unarmed and unarmored as she had been directed to be, so that was good but then she groaned as another form appeared beside her. Commander Horatius was not happy.

"You are being an idiot!" The soldier was not being respectful. She didn't pay him any heed. "Don't make me get my dad in here!"

"I don't think your dad wants to get involved in this mess." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh as she took in the utterly devoid landscape. "Commander, go. She won't talk to anyone but me and I earned her wrath. I thought I was doing good and I did evil. I will pay for that."

"And if she kills you? She can!" Horatius growled. He jerked as his hands flashed and a weapon appeared in them. It looked like a normal Flux Rifle, but here? It likely wasn't no matter what it looked like. He tried to drop the weapon, but it seemed stuck to his hands. "What the-? Liriel!"

_I knew you would come, __Commander. You know your duty__._ Liriel's soft voice preceded the kavat into existence nearby. She was not in her armor and she gave a sniff as both humans stared at her. _What? Never seen a kavat before?_

Instead of answering, the Reverend Mother knelt and started to pray softly.

"Please don't kill her!" Horatius begged. "She is being an idiot, and she did evil, but we need her."

"If she kills me, you will find a replacement." The Reverend Mother said calmly as she finished her prayers but did not rise. She met the kavat's eyes calmly. "I can make no excuse other than we thought our probes had destroyed your mind. We hoped and prayed that you would recover, but none of us dreamed that you were what you are. No one knew but Trinity..." She paused and grimaced. "_Lynn."_ She corrected herself grimly. "And she apparently swore not to talk about it. I saw you and I saw something beautiful and unique that I had _killed_." She said sadly. "I wanted to try and make things a bit better, since I could not make them right. I failed. I just… We were losing René. We had already lost her little boy. The Empress' people could not help her, so she came home to spend her last days with us. I knew it would hurt, but I had no idea."

_I hated you. Part of me still does. But __Kieko cornered me before I came here and she told me some things that bother me a great deal. __Before you became who you are now, t__he Corpus hurt you just as badly as __that doctor__ hurt me._ Liriel said in a soft, wondering tone. _I didn't know. Until __she told me__, I didn't know about Sara, Sierra and the others. Kieko opened my eyes to __w__ho you were before, Reverend Mother. As angry as I am with them, with you… Your hate shadows mine. __We are both needed. I cannot believe I am going to say this, but l__et go of __the hate__ before it destroys you._

"I can't, Queen Liriel." The nun said sadly. "It is all I am, really. Pain and rage and hate."

"That is not true!" Horatius tried to throw up his hands, but growled the rifle stayed in them and he nearly clipped himself in the jaw. "Your Majesty? What is with _this?_" He lowered it back down carefully. "I know I cannot hurt you here."

Yeah, sure. Shoot a _Cyberlancer_ with a _virtual weapon_ in a place composed of _computer code?_ That would work. _Sure_ it would! As a bad joke maybe. All it _might_ do was amuse her. Or make her mad. Six of one, a half dozen of the other. Either could get painful.

_Better to have it and not need it than need it and not __h__ave it. This virtual environment may not be secure._ Liriel warned and both humans stiffened. _Brianna may or may not have been subverted by Lorinos or Nef Anyo. You know how dangerous mind healers can be, Reverend Mother._

"What? Brianna?" Horatius asked, confused as the Reverend Mother bowed her head. "Are we talking about the same Brianna? _Brianna Executor?_ If there is a kinder, _gentler_ being in this whole _solar system_, I cannot imagine who it might be." He paused and made a face. "_Maybe_ Healer of the Caretakers. Maybe. No one else is even close to Brianna Executor. Hell, she calms _Violet_ down for goodness sake!" He shook his head. "And _that_ was not something that anyone could have imagined."

"You are wrong." The Reverend Mother said very softly and Horatius stilled. "What do you know of the history of Corpus Indoctrination, Commander?"

"Uh, some. History is not really my focus." Horatius said weakly as Liriel nodded to the nun who continued.

"In my copious free time..." The human woman's smile was heavily ironic since she worked, ate and slept, not always in that order. "...I have been looking at Corpus history. I have been trying to see where we turned from a group focused on survival into the evil cult we became." Horatius stared at her and her smile turned grim. "I am the only one with access to a lot of that and that is for the best. I have had to sequester a large chunk of what I have discovered from _anyone's_ access. It is bad."

"I don't doubt it." Horatius shook his head. "Just what I know is bad enough. Corpus do evil daily in the name of their good. Their 'Profit'. We Special Forces try to do what we can, but… We can't help but so many. We are but mortal."

_No joke. I am not very religious, but if there is a God, he is crying._ Liriel said and the Reverend Mother made a religious gesture.

"Yes, he likely is." The Reverend Mother said heavily. "Commander, the fact is, Mind Healing is at its core, very similar to Corpus Indoctrination. That stands to reason, since a mind healer was the one who came up with Corpus Indoctrination." Both of the others stiffened and the Reverend Mother sighed. "His name is lost in time. His group called him 'The Specialist'. He was human and he did perish. I have documented that. His life _and_ his death."

_You are certain?_ Liriel asked, tense. The Reverend Mother nodded. _I will need to see the evidence._

"I sent it to Rachel." The nun replied and Liriel stared at her before nodding and relaxing. "Of all the people in the solar system, I can trust _her_ to be impartial with such and corroborate it as best she can. I bet if you ask, she will happy to show it to you." The human woman made a face. "Well, maybe not _happy_. It is not pleasant reading."

"I get that this being was dangerous." Horatius said slowly. Both females looked at him. "But why such concern over a human who is dead?"

_It wouldn't be the first time someone pretended to die for any number of nefarious purposes._ Liriel replied. _Most of mine are protected from such. Yours?_

"The Clergy and the Special Forces are protected." The Reverend Mother reassured her. "Part of our training. But you know how bad it can get. If a mind healer of Brianna's skill and power is turned..." She broke off as Horatius hissed.

"_That_ is why the Tenno had a bomb on Amelia Priosa!" Horatius said, stunned. Both females nodded. "They feared she would go crazy. Enslave people? Could she have done that?"

"One reason. There were others, but that the big one. And as for what she could have done if let loose? Nothing so easy to fight as a slave collar." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "Slavery has been a human institution since well before the dawn of our recorded history but there are limits. _Any_ control mechanism that is imposed from the outside is, by its very nature alien. Whether is it chains of archaic iron or a modern control chip embedded in a person's brain, the result is the same. It is not always easy to fight, but it is always there and you know what it is. The totally justified fear is that a well versed and skilled mind healer can do something truly unfightable. They can do something that is like Corpus Indoctrination, but taken several orders of magnitude greater. No pain. No fear. Nothing to fight. Just devotion to someone or something."

"Like Sentient enthrallment." Horatius felt his guts clench as the two females shared a look. "That bad?"

"Worse." The Reverend Mother said softly. "Sentients used humans, often abusing them or throwing them away. We did not think they understood love, but we are rethinking things after meeting Tanah and his Mother. What if…? What if you served someone who you _knew_ loved you? Without a shadow of a doubt?" Horatius stared at her in horror and she nodded. "That you _knew_ without any trace of doubt that she would do _anything_ to protect you? What would you do for her?"

"Anything. Anything at all." Horatius said slowly and then he sank to his knees. "Brianna?" He all but begged.

"She was not that way when I knew her. She was careful not to be." The Reverend Mother said softly. Liriel made a noise of agreement, still a bit tense, but calmer. "Iriana has kept a close eye on her and others have as well. Not the least of which because she was so badly traumatized by both of her Orokin masters." Both others present nodded. "The woman I knew would never have countenanced such, but we all know how evil Lorinos was. Orokin had all kinds of ways to control people. That was one they liked. It was tedious at times and hard to put into place, but once _in_ place? Nothing but death could break the bond. The bond of _love_."

"Brianna _did_ die." Horatius said with growl that Liriel shared. The Reverend Mother nodded.

"That and the fact that she knew he wasn't a Councilman anymore are the only things that saved her from perpetual slavery to him." The nun agreed. Her face fell. "If she has fallen, if she is now using her skill for _Anyo_..."

_Then this is just as bad as if they had gained access to that enthrallment center, if not worse. _Liriel agreed.

"If my true fear comes to pass, she could literally make us all hers. Corpus, Grineer, Tenno, Caretakers… It won't matter." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "It would not be easy, and it would take time, but I doubt any could resist her if she can talk to them, comprehend how their minds work. Myself included. Even Sentients might have trouble adapting to such. It is not an _attack_. She will try to gain their love and she _can._"

"We need to know." Horatius said with a grunt. "Getting information is our job. We can get onto his flagship, see if we can find any information."

_Not alone._ Liriel spoke up. Both humans looked at her and she shook her head. _You go in alone and you are not coming out. __I know you have tried to infiltrate his ship __using subverted proxies __and failed several times._

"I don't want to know how you know that, do I?" Horatius demanded. Liriel just looked at him and he sighed. "Never mind."

"The Queen of Cats has many secrets, just like… we… do." The Reverend Mother's words trailed off and when both others looked at her, she was staring off into the distance. "No." She breathed, horror oozing from every pore as a familiar, hated form appeared in the virtual world. Nef Anyo was smiling widely, but before he could speak, the Reverend Mother did. "Leave."

That was _not_ a suggestion as raw dark power sang in her voice. The man encased in metal's face slacked and his form vanished from the virtual world before he could say a word! Both of the others stared as the Reverend Mother seemed to wilt for a moment and then she rose to her feet, her face oddly blank. The only motion on her entire body was the slight puff of her nostrils.

"What did he do?" Horatius asked, hushed as Liriel crouched down, more to ready herself to flee or fight than to cower.

"What does he _ever_ do?" The Reverend Mother asked as she focused her mind. "He wants what he wants and to hell with everyone else. Well, this time, he messed up. He messed up _bad_."

"Reverend Mother, there is no need for-" Nef Anyo was chiding her as he reappeared, but the not-quite-a-nun made a gesture and his form raised up into the air, surrounded by the same dark power! "Reverend Mother- Urk!" He broke off as his virtual beard tore in half and a piece of it flew away, sparking!

_I would shut up._ Liriel interjected, amusement warring with caution as Anyo hung in mid-air, dark power ripping pieces of his armor off! _There are certain people you should not anger, Nef Anyo! Others of your ilk learned that. Is it time for you to? It will hurt._

"What has he done now?" Horatius all but pleaded as the Reverend Mother took a step towards the Corpus elite hanging in mid-air. "Haven't you learned anything, Nef Anyo? Angering her is a _bad idea!_"

"I am trying to stop the war!" Anyo grated out as the Reverend Mother's power pressed further and further in on him. "You crazy woman! I am not-" He broke off with a grunt that became a scream as part of his armor was ripped clean off. When it came, it took skin, bone and muscle with it. Even virtual, that had to hurt!

"Do not try to lie to_ me_, Nef Anyo." The Clergywoman's voice was calm. Almost clinical. Not emotional at all. But it was _not_ calm. Maybe… A calm before a storm. "I know what your men are doing right now." Anyo stared at her, eyes huge and she smiled, but it was _Death_ smiling, not a woman. "You do know that attacking Amelia's Voices is a bad idea, right?"

"He… He what?" Horatius felt shock tear through him. Amelia's Voices were humans who gave up their pasts and futures to serve humanity as a whole. Clad in white robes, with white face concealing holograms, they served as anonymous caregivers across the system. Many had perished in various conflicts, but there were always more who would take up the burden of spreading hope or had nothing left to lose. Few knew that they served the Oracles of Saturn. Fewer still knew who had been given shelter among their number. They were neutral. Utterly neutral. They had no interest in any conflicts. Grineer considered them dangerous vermin to be killed on sight because the hope they spread was far too hard to kill. The Corpus used them on many occasions as neutral parties. So… Horatius slowly bowed his head. "He didn't."

"He did." The Reverend Mother was _still_ calm. "I just received word. He sent his men to round up as many Voices as they could. To take them and strip them of their garments. Not to harm them, because he wants hostages. Two in particular." Horatius slowly shook his head.

"Lis will fight." Horatius said, dumbfounded.

"We won't hurt them! We needed leverage with you and-" Anyo managed, then he screamed again as the Reverend Mother held up a hand and pure darkness flew from it to coat him. Liriel stared at her, eyes wide. The Cyberlancer's shield flared and even Horatius felt cold seep into him from whatever she threw even as far away as he was. Then it faded and Anyo fell to lie on the virtual floor, sobbing. His armor was frozen almost solid!

"I see you were told some, but not all. Your informant missed a few fairly important things." The Reverend Mother was still so maddeningly calm. "I wonder if you got the information from Lorinos or Brianna?" She shook her head slightly. "Not that it matters now. I can't stop you from trying to take them, possibly killing them. I can't stop you from being a short sighted stupid little brat playing with things you don't understand. What I _can_ do is make you understand that _this_ has consequences."

Her right hand dipped to her belt and when it came up a dagger shone in that hand. It was odd looking, that dagger. Clearly not functional as a weapon, the short leaf shaped blade was dull and the point had been broken off at some past time and never repaired. There did not seem to be any power coming from it that Horatius' senses could discern. So why did Anyo suddenly freeze? Why did he seem about to wet himself? It was marked with Corpus insignia, so it was clearly a Corpus knife_._

"Reverend Mother!" Anyo said quickly as she raised the blade to look at it. "No! We can settle this! End it!"

"Oh, I am going to end it." The Clergywoman finally had emotion in her tone, hate, and the temperature in the virtual environment seemed to plummet. "You attacked that which must not be attacked and thus I declared Holy War. So now, you think to take hostages to bluster your way out of the punishment. Typical."

"That is not-" Anyo screamed as the power flared around him again. "I am trying end this conflict!"

"No, you are not." The Reverend Mother said flatly as she spun the dagger in her hand deftly. Anyo stared at the display of dexterity like a snake might a mongoose. "You are trying to _Profit_ from something for which there will be none. Understand this, Nef Anyo. If your men hurt her, alter her in any way or as much as muss a _hair on her head_, I will _burn_ you atom by atom from the _feet up_. Your armies cannot stop me. Your proxies cannot stop me. Your allies cannot stop me and neither can _you_."

Dark, cold, hard, and scary as hell. Utterly unemotional and utterly inflexible.

_Oh no…_ Liriel hissed as realization dawned. There was only _one_ person who the Reverend Mother of the Clergy might _possibly_ react this strongly for. And not just her! Many would react badly! _Didn't you idiots get the memo? Leave Sara __**alone**__!_

"If they could read, that might have helped. But they clearly can't." The Reverend Mother turned her back on Anyo as he started to babble. She threw the dagger over her shoulder almost negligently. It landed with a clang and skittered to sit at Anyo's side. "_This_ message is one even Anyo and his fools _can_ understand. _You_ drew the knife, _I_ will sheathe it in your cold, dead _body_."

"Reverend Mother!" Anyo tried again but she waved and he vanished. So did the dagger!

Horatius slumped in place as the Clergywoman bowed her head and a tear fell. "It isn't your fault, Reverend Mother. We will get her back."

_Yes, we will._ Liriel promised, rising to her feet to twine around the Clergywoman's ankles. Unthinkable less than a day before, but now? Oh, she understood all too well, the Queen of Cats did. '_War to the knife'?_

"'And the knife to the hilt'." The woman who had once been Sara Priosa's mother said sadly as she bent down to caress the kavat's head. "No quarter will be asked or given now." Horatius and Liriel both nodded.

"No quarter."


	10. Chapter 10

**Juxtaposition**

Sara Priosa woke up with a sob that she choked back.

She did not move even as sounds came to here ears. Familiar sounds, but not. Medical gear made noises that were fairly recognizable no matter who made it. A heart monitor was a heart monitor no matter what noise it made. The smells though? She knew those all too well. Corpus! She gave herself a minute shake and started her heart biofeedback. In just a few moments, her heart would stop and there would be no coming back from that. She _would not_…

* * *

[A flash of blue]

Sara Priosa woke up with a sob that she choked back.

The sounds around her were unfamiliar, the smells likewise, but something was so familiar and so frightening that she started her heart biofeedback without-

* * *

[A flash of blue]

Sara Priosa woke up with a-

"Stop that." A totally unexpected voice came to Sara's ears. Brianna was _not_ happy. "Stop that, you _morons!_ All you will do is anger her and she is just as scary as her mother in her own way. _Turn it off__! Now!_"

What was Brianna Executor doing commanding _Corpus?_ Sara froze. That was the feel. Sara was in a _Corpus medical ward_! Again! Her first horrible memories were of a place like this. She didn't move. She started her biofeedback technique to stop her heart, but a hand that felt odd cupped her cheek and her heart resumed its normal rhythm. She tried to start it again, but it wouldn't come! She felt terror the likes of which she hadn't in a long time. Something washed over her and her fear faded. Not gone, just receded a bit.

"No, my dear." Brianna sounded tired and sad. She also was more than a bit peeved. Not with Sara though. "Don't do that. There is no need. I know what it sounds like. I know what it smells like. Hell, I know what it _feels_ like because that is what it is. You _are_ in a Corpus medical ward. But you are in _no_ danger now." She made a disgusted noise. "Not _intentionally_ anyway. They were trying, albeit very clumsily, to keep you from suicide. They do not want you to die or even get hurt worse. _That_ at least was smart, if little _else_ here has been."

Sara jerked her face away from the touch and clamped her mouth shut tight. This couldn't be Brianna. Not in a Corpus-

She gasped as the something warmed her wrist and heavenly feelings swept through her. Again, it was familiar! They were drugging her again! She was-

"_No__, administer antagonist! Now!_" Brianna all but screamed that and the feelings faded. "_Stop that!_ I told you! I _warned_ you. If you do _anything_ to her, we are all _dead_. Is _that_ clear enough?" There was no answer that Sara could hear, but Brianna made a disgusted noise. "Idiots! I am surrounded by complete idiots."

That sure sounded like Brianna Executor, but it couldn't be. Not in a Corpus medical bay! Sara didn't dare crack her eyes. If this was a Corpus bay, then they had brainwashing gear set up to shine into her eyes the moment they opened. But in that case, why hadn't they done it while she slept? Holding her eyes open to shine information directly into her optic nerves. Or had they? She couldn't know. She didn't need to be conscious for them to warp her. So, what was going on? She tried to remember how she had gotten her and that wouldn't come. Grief came instead.

"I don't care what he said." Brianna was very unhappy. The touch was back on her cheek, but it didn't do anything. That _was_ Brianna's touch! Sara had felt it a few times and the doctor was always so gentle. "You are not cleared for her identity. No one here is! He wanted leverage and like a moron, he assumed that Lorinos left that information for his benefit. It wasn't for Nef Anyo's benefit. It was a _warning_ to leave this girl _alone! _ A warning you all _ignored_. If you want to die, feel free. I don't."

Lorinos? Sara knew that name. That had been the scum who had owned the tower before Brianna had… Had… Her memory fuzzed again! Someone was playing tricks with her mind. They _were_ brainwashing her! Even with all of her tricks, they were brainwashing her! She could not bite back a sob.

"Oh, Sara." Warm arms scooped Sara up from whatever she was lying on and tugging came from both wrists. Other tugging came from elsewhere and it hurt, but then the pain faded. When Brianna spoke again, it was not to Sara. "I am taking her out of here before you drive her mad." She scoffed. "Feel free to complain after we leave silent running. We do it my way or I am taking her and _leaving_ before her mother's wrath lands on us. You have _no idea_ what that woman will do. I do and I am smart enough to be very afraid."

That at least was true. This had to be about the Reverend Mother, but no one with any brains would use Sara as a tool to get at the Clergywoman. Sara's sole living blood relative was _not_ someone to cross. Ever. That left aside her adopted-

Sara felt her world lurch.

Where was Lis?

Her adopted mother would never have let the Corpus take her. Ever. Even when they lay down to sleep in heavily guarded safehouses, set aside for Amelia's Voices, Lis had _never_ let her guard down. She was always armed and always ready to defend Sara. That left aside her teacher Jane Talona who was Warrior Tenno even if only reluctantly. Mesa warframes were no joke at the best of times. Something was very wrong here. Sara was being carried in arms that were too long to be human, but were soft and warm.

"I know things don't make sense right now, Sara." Brianna's soft voice came to her ears. "You can barely move and you can barely feel. Your ears are damaged and your memory is a mess due to what they hit you with to subdue you and then what they used to knock you out. I cannot tell you anything more until we get into a secure room. There are too many eyes and ears here. I have no intention whatsoever of hurting you or letting you get hurt further. Your mother is damn scary." Her voice hardened. "Lieutenant, get out of my way. Now. I don't care how many men and proxies you lost. You do not get that information. You will not identify her. No one here is cleared for it."

'Lost'? That implied a battle. Lis had been in a battle before and nearly died. What had happened to Lis afterwards had been so bad as to make several Corpus executives puke. But Brianna was continuing.

"And no, you will not broadcast anything at all. We stay dark. If _anyone_ finds out that she is here, we will be boarded by all _kinds_ of scary people and if we are lucky, die screaming. I doubt we would be that lucky. I do not want to die today. Do you?" Whatever answer she got seemed to mollify her a bit. Not much. "If you had simply told me what you planned, I could have stopped it. Told you it was a very bad idea. Asked your lord and master to come up with something bit less suicidal. I am trying to salvage this. Get the other Voices into the escape pods -gently! - and send them off. They will picked up quickly and we may be able to escape in the chaos. Maybe." She didn't sound sure. "But one thing I _can_ tell you with absolute certainty: If _anyone_ touches this girl again unless it is clearly to aid her or heal her injuries, we have not _seen_ bad happen here yet. I know you and yours were just following orders, but those orders were moronic." Another pause. "Yes, you do that. I am taking the girl to new quarters to see if I can help her. If I can talk to her, maybe I can salvage some of this mess. No matter what though? Nef Anyo just _escalated_ his war with the Clergy. He came back from his 'negotiation' with a _knife_." She laughed coldly. "Yes. That _is_ what I meant. Now, go change your _pants_ and get back to work."

They knew. Sara felt fear rise again. They knew the Reverend Mother was her relative! They had tried to take her to use in some way? And hurt her from what she surmised. That was a bit more than an 'Oops'. Considering what _Serene_, the Tenno warrior that Sara had been created from had done to a sizable Corpus base on Neptune to avenge another daughter's death at Corpus hands? Oh dear. Corpus still told horror tales about 'The Darkness That Walked Like A Woman'. Add the power of the Corpus Clergy to that and you got a pint sized _Armageddon_.

Something changed. A feeling of different energy swept over Sara and then a voice sounded form nearby. It wasn't anyone that Sara knew, but the voice was female and kind. Sort of mechanical but sort of not. Warm, but worried.

"Oh my god! What did they_ do?_"

"I don't know, Cassie." Sara felt firm softness underneath her and then she felt things being peeled carefully from her skin. "The injuries you can see. They drugged her. let me get these patches off. She can hear us, but whatever they gave her is strong. I need a full toxicology run and probably some of these neutralized. Be gentle. She is terrified of Corpus."

Something that felt odd gripped Sara's wrist. Was it metal? It was warmer than metal should be. She felt strange. Not bad, just strange.

"Even with what little you told me? Who would blame her?" This Cassie said sourly. "Toxicology is coming through now." She made a noise of consternation. "What the hell? Her vitals are strong but I am reading _several_ sedatives." Now she sounded confused. "How can she be awake with so many in her system? Just this combination of drugs would kill most humans."

"Sara is not entirely human, Cassie." Brianna said sadly. "And believe me, that is no blessing."

"No." This Cassie was just as sad. "No, it wouldn't be. You warned them! All of them! What were they thinking, Mistress?"

"Cassie!" _That_ was sych pure Brianna Executor that Sara had to smile despite everything. "Don't call me that."

"I have to." The other said sadly. "It was programmed into me and I have to act the part no matter what you wish. If I break cover,... Well, you know."

"Yes, I know." Brianna sighed deeply and a human shaped hand gripped Sara's. "She can hear us through the implant connections even as unfinished as they are, but imperfectly. She is frightened even though the drugs. When they wear off, we will have to explain fast or we will have all kinds of problems." The hand gave a squeeze. "Sara, we need to repair the damage that was done. You need to sleep through that. The drugs we can handle. The damage to your ears we _may_ be able to handle. The rest of it is superficial, thank god. We _will_ protect you."

"They started replacing her ears." Cassie said savagely as warmth surrounded Sara's head. "Bunch of bloody butchers!"

"It is their concept of healing. Something breaks? Replace it with mechanical. It is all they know how to do, Cassie. Be calm." Brianna commanded. "Sara needs you and you need her. She will need us both when she wakes. I just hope it is enough. For now? Rest, Sara. Dream of peace and light. Remember those who love you. You will see them again."

Something hissed and Sara nodded off, unsure why she was suddenly so frightened of _Brianna_ of all people.

* * *

In a non-medical room of a very odd Corpus ship

Brianna Executor watched as Cassie worked. The female being was fast and sure. Her six small appendages were extensions of her will and precise as only machines could be. She wasn't human in any way now, but she remembered _being_ human and she was a top flight medical professional. She wasn't in Iriana's class in healing, but she was no slouch. It had been pure luck that Brianna had remembered where the robot had been incarcerated in time to collect her before the Clergy moved or dismantled her. Then it had been a simple matter of gaining Cassie's trust. That hadn't been hard since both females shared a dim view of Nef Anyo for pretty much the same reason. The Orokin stepped away from the large mechanical spider and nodded as another of their co-conspirators entered the room. He nodded back.

"Brianna." The man in green Corpus armor smiled as Brianna did. "Hey, I can learn."

"Pity so few others can. I _am_ sorry." Brianna started, but broke off when he waved at her.

"What is done is done." The man shrugged. "I have a report on what happened. You won't like it."

"I like _none_ of this, John." Brianna slumped a bit and then sighed. "Is it as bad as I fear?"

"Probably worse." The Corpus soldier relaxed to parade rest. He didn't seem capable of relaxing further when on duty. "I don't know if the Voices had warning or that was simply the level of normal security." He glanced sidelong at Brianna who shrugged. "But the infiltration team apparently surprised a Mesa warframe in the entry hall. Failure was not an option, so they went loud and called for backup before attacking. None of the snatch team made it back."

"Oh no." Brianna groaned and John nodded.

"The only good news is that as you know, the troops only used concussion grenades." The soldier sounded sad. "Nothing heavier. If they has used _plasma_..." He trailed off as Brianna put a hand to her face.

"...they would have incinerated Sara without knowing and doomed us all." Brianna finished for him.

"None of the survivors understood why the Tenno stood there and fought so hard." The soldier shook his head. "Tenno are strange, but they generally move when they fight. That…" He shook his head, even his Indoctrination couldn't help but so much. "There was little cover to approach. Until an Osprey managed to ram and stagger the warframe, no one could even get into grenade launcher range. It was a bloodbath even after they hit it with half a dozen grenades. They kept shooting it until it fell over. The Tenno never even took a step."

"No. She wouldn't have." Brianna bowed her head. "I can hope Jane recovers. I assume they blew the warframe to pieces?"

"You better believe it!" John replied with a grim smile that faded as Brianna shook her head. "I have fought Tenno in the Index and elsewhere, Brianna. I know how durable warframes are and how they can come back even in the middle of a battle. They were expecting it to rise and start killing again, hence why the assault forces tossed concussion grenades into every room, grabbed everyone and bolted." He slumped a bit. "No other major casualties. Just these two."

"Two were _enough_, John." Brianna said with a growl as she looked to the side where a red skinned form lay in a medical pod. "When Lis wakes up and she _will_… She is going to be _angry_."

"Yeah. Can't really blame her. Attacking the Voices was stupid, but this? Even with what little you can tell us, it's going to get bad." The soldier shook his head. "Everything else checks out. The other Voices are in escape pods and away. We are running dark, no coms with anyone. It is all set up to your codes now. The ship is yours and as far as they know? The crew believe you still follow Anyo's orders."

"Good." Brianna moved to the pod and laid her hand on it. She stared at the readouts and bowed her head. On a human, the many injuries shown would have been bad. The head injuries would have all been fatal. Lis wasn't human no matter what she looked like. She would wake up eventually and when she did? She would _not_ be happy.

"She is regenerating." John said slowly, not quite afraid but close. "This is..."

"The one the Corpus knew as Lis F-43, yes." Brianna said softly. "And the girl _is_ the one she was protecting then too."

"Ah, shit." John said with feeling.

"Yeah. That is why the Tenno fought so hard. She _knew_ what the Reverend Mother will do if the girl was hurt again. Which those idiots _did_. As for Lis? She will heal even a concussion grenade going off right next to her head and pulping her brain." Brianna sighed. "We need to keep Sara calm and heal her injuries as best we can. We need to keep her _away_ from Nef Anyo or we have not _seen_ bad yet. I… I can keep her calm but… This is what Lorinos wanted me to do. To take control of people. John…" Her face fell. "I am _sorry!_"

"It is _not_ your fault!" John said sternly enough that Brianna jerked. "I didn't know all of what he wanted me to do, and frankly? I was bored with the Index. Too many fools, too much backstabbing, too much love of money. I live to fight, not sit around counting my money. I volunteered, Brianna."

"You _volunteered_ to be in the room with me when I woke, thinking I would take control of you as Lorinos promised Anyo I would." Brianna said with a growl of annoyance.

"No." The soldier replied. "I volunteered to guard someone who needs guarding." He grinned. "Who needs to be reminded that not all humans are selfish, egotistical pieces of crap, even if her lover was one for a long time."

"I don't think I can sleep with you again, John." Brianna said sadly as she turned to face him. "It is not safe for _either_ of us. I am not sure if I can control myself. What Lorinos left in that room lowered all of my inhibitions and I was… I..." She started to cry and he was holding her again as he had when she had regained her senses. After.

"You had been alone too long." John hugged her gently, careful of his armor and holstered Prova. "I don't blame you. If I blame anyone, I blame Lorinos and Anyo. Not you. You own my contract now. My feelings for you predate you waking. What you did just firmed it up."

"I will release you to seek another contract as soon as I am able. I can try to negate the other bonding as well." Brianna hugged him back, a bit hesitantly, as if fear of her touch hurting him. It had before. "I may have enslaved you but I will free you! I swear it! I know there are ways to break such and leave us both alive, I just do not remember them."

"Provided of course, I let you get away from me. From what little I know of Orokin contracts, that cannot have been easy." John said slowly and Brianna made a face, but nodded.

"I don't remember, but probably not." Brianna sighed and relaxed. "And the rest?"

"Anyo sent another load of prisoners before we went dark. He wants you to take control of them. And yes, he sent _it_ too." John was quiet but Brianna stiffened again as the fury that lurked within him at all times was given voice. "And if he manages somehow to put that thing in a room with you again, I am breaking it!"

"John, Anyo will kill you if you do that." Brianna hugged the soldier again, very carefully. "I... It won't kill me."

"No, but you were begging for death when you smelled that damn thing." John retorted. "I never thought a smell would be so terrifying. But seeing you when you woke up afterwards and realized what you had done to me… I am not a good man, but there _are_ limits. That passed those limits." He shook his head. "I will break it."

"John, it is _Orokin tech_." Brianna heaved a long suffering sigh. "Hitting it with your Prova won't break it."

"Who said anything about me using a Prova?" John's grin was wide and feral. For many of his opponents, that was the last thing they had seen. "I was thinking a few dozen Penta grenades might do the trick. If not? I will try an Opticor or Supra. If _those_ don't work? I will toss it into space and let the smell mess up vacuum instead of someone I care for. As for the rest? Now I can brag about something that no one else has in millennia! I got to sleep with an Orokin and _survived_ it!"

"Crazy man with a one track mind!"

"Well, yeah."


	11. Chapter 11

**Strangeness**

Sara woke up fast, remembered terror flashing through her, but as soon as she did, a familiar kind voice sounded close at hand.

"Sara, can you hear me?" Brianna's voice sounded normal now. Before, it had been off, just a little bit. Before Sara could process what was wrong with this situation, Brianna continued. "I know you are afraid. I know things didn't make a lot of sense when you woke up last time. Lis is alive. I don't know about Jane. Both were hurt very badly. You were as well, but we managed to save your inner ears. No thanks to those idiots."

"What the hell is going on?" Sara bit her lip. She hadn't meant to talk!

"Hell _is_ what is going on." A solid male voice sounded more than a bit amused but then he made a soft noise. "Sorry."

"John, don't scare her further." That was a command.

From the sounds, smells and feels, Sara was on a Corpus ship. The man sounded like a Corpus soldier. What was Brianna doing _commanding_ Corpus? Sara steeled her mind against the inevitable and opened her eyes slightly. What met them was not what she had expected.

She wasn't in a med-lab. Not in a cell. Not in an Indoctrination facility. Not in any kind of Corpus facility that Sara had ever seen. The room looked like a bedchamber! But odd. It had gold in places, more gold than Sara had seen anywhere outside of- Her thoughts slithered to a halt as part of the wall moved and a huge mechanical spider form stepped into her view before freezing at a cough from the side. Out of the corner of her eyes, Sara saw Brianna Executor step into view, but her attire was just as odd. Was that a Corpus space suit? But gold? It fit her limbs and nothing Corpus should have fit her that well. Had it been made for her?

"Don't scare her, Cassie." Brianna said mildly.

"I am trying not to, Ma'am, but better she see me as I am now, than think me duplicitous later." The voice from the spider was female and worried. Familiar.

"That is a point." Brianna moved slowly and carefully further into Sara's vision. For her part, Sara surreptitiously tried each of her limbs and found them unbound. "Good morning, Sara." Brianna smiled at her, but it was melancholy. "As I am sure you guessed by now, we are _deep trouble_."

"On a Corpus ship? I never would have guessed." Sara managed snark from somewhere and Brianna stared at her before a guffaw came from behind the Orokin and a green armored form stepped up to stand by Brianna. Protectively? Sara felt terror rise again, but then _he_ smiled in a way that no Corpus Prodman in Sara's experience was capable of and the terror receded. It didn't fade entirely, but it did recede.

"Oh, I _like_ this one. She has the same fire in her soul as you do." The Corpus soldier nodded to Sara. "Sara? My name is John. I am not your enemy. No one will hurt you while you are in our care. No one." Space itself might have bent under his calm assurance.

"Brianna?" Sara asked a bit plaintively, still not moving. "What is going on?"

"The being who remade me had a number of contacts across the system." Brianna said slowly. "One of those contacts was Nef Anyo." Sara stared at the Orokin in shock and Brianna nodded. "What happened to me was not Kaitlin's fault." She said sadly. "She had no way of knowing what would happen. Neither did I. She did help me and for that I am grateful, but-" She broke off as Sara stared at her quizzically. "Yes?"

"Who is Kaitlin?" Sara inquired. Brianna stared at her and pursed her lips in a totally familiar way. The 'hours of Brianna lecture' way. "The _short_ version!" Sara said quickly and laughs came from both the Corpus soldier and the spider!

"She _definitely_ knows you, Brianna." The spider took a step towards Sara who fought not to recoil. "I need to check your vitals, Sara. To do that, I need to touch you."

"Don't you have sensors or something?" Sara demanded, sidling back on the bed. The spider withdrew a step and looked at Brianna who frowned.

"Truth only here." The Orokin said with a nod. "If we lie to her, she will never trust us at all and then we are all doomed when her mother acts. Cassie has sensors, Sara, but we cannot trust them. Anything that is broadcast is suspect. That body was built by Nef Anyo's people and I cannot access a lot of her systems. She is a doctor."

"No, I am not. I am a nurse." Cassie retorted and Sara had to smile as Brianna made a sour noise.

"Okay, how about this, you pedant? She is a _medical professional_." Brianna said with so much fake haughty dignity in her tone that Sara had to laugh. "A good one."

"I remember your voice." Sara said, eyeing the spider. "You called someone 'bloody butchers'?"

"You were out of it, both from the injuries and from the drugs." Cassie replied, not moving. "A concussion grenade had gone off next to your head. You were not in armor, so the damage to your ears was substantial. They were going to replace your ears with mechanical crap." Sara's right hand shot to the side of her head and she stilled as she felt a bandage over her right ear. A quick check showed a bandage on her left ear as well. "I did what I could, Sara, and you will be able to heal naturally, but we need to let it heal. No loud noises close at hand, okay?"

"I will try not to let any more grenades go off next to me." Sara said weakly. "Lis?"

"Lis was on top of you when the grenade went off, Sara." Brianna kept her voice low and steady. "She wasn't in armor either."

"Amelia's Voices do not wear armor." Sara said weakly. "It is not what we are."

"I know, Sara." Brianna did not move as Sara stared at her. "Lis is a mess, but she is alive and she will heal. You know this. She was hurt worse before and she came back from that. Now as to how _calm_ she will be when she wakes?" Brianna made a face. "I hope we can get you and her somewhere safe before that. Because I bet she will hurt anyone close at hand when she wakes up."

"No bet." Sara relaxed a little bit. If this was a trick, she was doomed. "Why can't _you_ check my vitals?" She asked carefully. Brianna looked at the floor and did not respond. "Brianna?"

"She feels ashamed." John said quietly. "It wasn't her fault, but she feels ashamed and afraid of touching people now. When she woke up, she was not in control of herself. The evil one who hurt her had left an odd thing in Anyo's care. I didn't sense anything but an odd smell. When she woke up and smelled it… She went nuts."

"I don't understand." Sara said slowly. "She doesn't seem any crazier than she did before." She stared as Cassie chortled. "What?"

"You really _do_ know how to damn someone with faint praise, don't you? Silly Orokin _defines_ the word 'nuts'." The spider's tone was wicked and Sara felt her heart lighten a little. Then Cassie's tone turned sad again. "It wasn't her fault, but she blames herself."

"I lost control!" Brianna snapped and then slumped as John laid a hand on her shoulder. "And Sara… When I did, I enslaved John." Sara felt fear rise again and Brianna nodded. "I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't coherent until later. But I did. I took his will from him and made him mine."

"She doesn't believe when I tell her otherwise. I have no regrets." John interjected. Sara stared at him and he shrugged. "Didn't know how bad the first part would hurt, but the rest?" He leered at Brianna who pinked. "_Totally_ worth it!"

"_John!_" Brianna protested as both Sara and Cassie laughed at her discomfiture.

The tension in the room faded more than a bit. Sara's fear wasn't gone, but it had retreated.

"So, just so I understand this situation..." Sara said very slowly. "I am a prisoner?"

"Technically, we _all_ are. But we have sort-of halfway escaped." Cassie said when Brianna looked at the floor. "Anyo thinks that Brianna here is his Angel of the Void, someone who will enslave the solar system for him, make everyone all nice and subservient. John's contract was with Anyo and the scum remade me into _this_. He says I owe him a hefty debt for the 'repairs'. As if stealing my brain from my dying body and sticking in this thing was a 'fix'. Sara, he thinks we can deliver him the solar system."

"Enslaved." Sara said slowly and Brianna nodded. "And..."

"And I don't know if I can. I don't want to, but he couldn't care less." Brianna admitted. "I am no military person, Sara. I never was. What I _do_ know is that there is no way I would be able to do it alone. I am one person. I cannot be everywhere. Lorinos had to have some kind of nasty plan for me and I bet that smelly thing was a test of his system. If Anyo hooks me into some kind of long range transmitter, then maybe I could broadcast what I do? I don't know what it is. It is not pheromones, not telepathy or whatever. It is odd." She made a face. "The only test subject I have is John and- _Don't say it!_" She begged as John opened his mouth.

"Say what?" Butter might not have melted in John's mouth as he smirked at her. "That you might _enjoy_ strapping me down and having your wicked way with me?" Brianna blushed brighter and Cassie heaved a fake sigh.

"These two make me very glad I do not have a human body anymore." The spider looked at Sara who stared at it. "I do need to check you, but I need to touch you to do that. With my help, Brianna managed to take control of my internal systems, but we have no idea if any remote access is live."

"I might be able to help with that." Sara said and stilled as Brianna glared at her.

"Do you have _any_ idea what your mom will do to me if you get hurt worse?" The Orokin demanded. "You need to _heal!_ You were hurt very badly." She made another face. "You also need to be here when Lis wakes up or she may tear out a bulkhead or two. You need to lie there and heal for a bit. Cassie can tend you. She is far better than she says she is."

"And if you do enslave people?" Sara said slowly.

"Then I am screwed." Brianna replied heavily. "Your mom will kill me, the Tenno will kill me or someone else will. I won't resist if it comes to it." John went still at her side and Brianna shook her head. "John, I told you about Lorinos. He tortured _hundreds_ of energy form beings worse than Alad V ever managed with Tenno for god's sake! He had to have a plan!"

"No matter how subtle the Orokin, a Prova between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style." John retorted, fury sounding deep in his tone. "You said he was imprisoned? But not by who?"

"I cannot divulge that." Brianna said sadly. "There is so much I cannot say. I _can_ say he angered _everyone_."

"That he did." Sara agreed. She lay back on the bed and nodded to the spider. "Come ahead."

"Brave girl. Sara? If you feel off or bad at any time, say something." Cassie said firmly as she stepped close to the bed and a long appendage unfolded form her chassis to pick up Sara's wrist. Sara did not react even as the warm metal surrounded her flesh. "We are all that we have here. Trust may or may not happen, but we have to work together or we are all doomed. What-? _NO!_"

Sara jerked as something flashed into being in front of her eyes. It wasn't coming from Cassie. It was coming from the ceiling. It was a familiar Corpus hologram. A glyph like the ones she had seen while being brainwashed before she had met Serene! She was drowning in it and-

A loud crash sounded and Sara came back to herself sitting on the bed, surrounded by warm metal legs, staring up a the ceiling where a Prova hung impaled in a holo emitter. Sara was calm, but it was imposed. Just like before.

"Damn him!" Brianna snarled. "Sara! Talk to me! Cassie?" She begged.

"She is calm, too calm! Hypnotized! I may be able to get through, bit I don't know. I heard a few things, but never tried them." Cassie sounded one step from terror. "If I do anything, I might hurt her! Wait. Sara? I bet you can react to direct questions. Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you." Sara managed through the fuzz in her mind. She tried to say more, to scream for help, but it didn't come. There was an odd smell in her nostrils and the sound of male cursing came.

"_Don't let me touch her!_" Brianna sounded terrified now and Cassie moved Sara just a little. "Keep her away! If I touch her, I might… _Damn him!_" She groaned. Was that _lust?_ "John, _get me out of here!_"

Sara had learned quite a bit about how her mind worked in study with Jane and she was fighting with everything she had. The hold on her mind receded and then, it faded further when a soft voice started singing nearby.

'_Cold the air and water flowing, hard the land we call our home.'_

'_Push to keep the dark from coming, feel the weight of what we owe...'_

Cassie was not a great singer but it didn't matter, the words were heartfelt and Sara found herself humming along after the first verse. By the time Cassie finished singing, Sara was in control again.

"Stun me and make her do it while I am incapacitated." Sara said as she opened her eyes and found the spider crouched over top of her protectively. "By the time I can move again, I am a slave."

"Yes." Cassie said sadly. "That is my thought too." Hate sang in her tone. "Damn him! Damn them _both_ to fiery pits! I am sorry." She said quickly as Sara shifted a bit. She moved off of Sara and then moved to leave the bed, but Sara held out a hand.

"How am I?" Sara inquired.

"Physically, your ears are healing. Everything else seems okay." Cassie stayed where she was as Sara touched the warm metal hull. "The bypass we put in is letting you hear until the repairs are done. I... I am sorry?" She repeated.

"For what?" Sara asked. "You didn't do that. You realized what was happening and stopped it."

"That evil Orokin had to have planned this." Cassie said with a growl as Sara ran her hand down the spider's flank. The workmanship was exquisite to her half trained senses."This whole mess. Brianna doesn't _want_ to enslave people! She is not that sort of person, not one of the ones who desire control over others. She wants to help people."

"Lorinos was the bad kind." Sara said quietly. "Is Brianna okay?"

"I don't know. She is stressed, with cause. She is terrified that she will start enslaving people." Cassie admitted. "While I am in here, I get no signals from outside. That damn thing vanished before John could break it. Like it had a mind of its own."

"It might." Sara said and the spider turned to stare at her, horror clearly etched in every single micrometer of its hull despite its mechanical nature. "Orokin was a time of wonders and horrors. They made so many things, some good, some bad. Who is to say what Lorinos made?"

"If we have a _thinking Orokin device_ wandering this ship that incites Brianna to lust, then we have even bigger problems than we thought." Cassie said weakly. "Might this be Anyo's plan? This seems too convoluted for the nutcase."

"Not for an Orokin." Sara said as she sat up slowly. Her head spun and nausea flared. "Um..."

"Lie down!" Cassie commanded and Sara did as instructed. The spider came close and several appendages were writhing around Sara now, but she wasn't afraid. Not of Cassie. Not now. "You are still hurt. You should be in an ICU, but Brianna knew you would not react well to such a place on a Corpus ship. I can tend you, but I have to stay close."

"This is… a bedroom." Sara said as he looked around carefully. Cassie made a noise of agreement. "Brianna's?"

"One of them. Technically, everything aboard this ship is Brianna's since she stole it from Nef Anyo." Cassie said and her tone turned wicked as Sara stared at her. "What? You don't think Corpus rob each other?"

"I know they do." Sara replied. "But… She _stole_ it?"

"Oh, he doesn't know about that yet." Cassie replied, her tone sly "We are waiting for the proper time to 'explain' things to him."

"Do you know who I am?" Sara asked as the spider did something and Sara's nausea faded. "Thank you."

"You are welcome, Sara." The spider replied as she sidled off the bed. "As for who you are? Just your name. Brianna has been very careful about saying any more than that. All we know for sure is that you were hurt very badly by Corpus and are related somehow to the Reverend Mother of the Clergy, hence why Anyo thought you would make good leverage. What an idiot. Everyone knows not to anger _them!_"

"That he is." Sara sighed deeply. "There is much I cannot say. They had to fuzz my DNA to keep me from showing up on scans."

"_Ouch._" Cassie said with feeling and Sara nodded. Such treatments were lengthy, painful and had _really_ bad side effects. Cassie's tone turned sick. "So… You can't have children?"

"Better for all concerned if I don't spread these genes." Sara replied, only to pause as one of Cassie's small appendages reached up to take her left hand.

"That does not mean you need to be alone." Cassie said kindly. "Being alone sucks. I am alone now that my daughter has gone off to do whatever she does. My wards are all gone and I thought I was destined to follow them. Then Brianna begged my help. _Mine._" She sighed deeply. "My body died a long time ago and this is all that is left of me. I guess, this is some kind of divine punishment for my sins?"

"Anyo would say that." Sara patted the appendage with her free hand. "I won't."

"At least you are not arachnophobic." Cassie snorted as Sara bit back a laugh. "I was worried you would be. You are handling my oddness quite well."

"Oh, you are not even close to the strangest thing I have seen recently." Sara replied as she lay back. She was still in trouble, she knew this, but she wasn't alone. That was a good thing. Cassie turned her body to look at the supine human and Sara shook her head. "I recently helped negotiate a treaty between two mining clans who were in conflict. They are both trying to breed similar types of kavats. Stress the word 'trying'."

"I don't want to know, do I?" Cassie was wary.

"There was some question about who stole the DNA from whom first. And… Let's just say that there are certain characteristics that _no one_ should breed into a kavat." Sara winced dramatically. "Musk glands are one of those things."

"'Musk'?" Cassie asked carefully. "I do not know that word. Do I _want_ to know that word?"

"Do a data search on the word 'skunk'. It is in _every_ human database." Sara said and smiled grimly when Cassie gagged. "And before you ask, yes. _Both_ of them engineered that in."

"They _wanted_ that?" Cassie demanded. "That makes no _sense!_"

"Welcome to _my_ world."


	12. Chapter 12

**Bonds**

(on Mars at just about the same time)

Kaitlin lay back on the couch and fought a groan. Iriana had been kind and gentle, but the scans had been anything _but_ that. So many scans. So many different types of invasive imaging and then the worst part. The mind scan. It had hurt just like she had imagined it would and she hadn't seen what the others had. Some kind of security protocol probably. Once it was done, Iriana had led her away, told her to rest and gone away, leaving Kaitlin to nap on the couch.

Now, she was awake, but Iriana had told her to stay and Kaitlin could not disobey without breaking the fragile trust that the healer had given her, so the Orokin was stuck. She wouldn't access the tower and didn't even dare ask for reading material. If she tried, who knew what some paranoid security type would think?

"Kaitlin Executor?" A voice pulled Kaitlin out of a doze and she sat up to see a woman standing in the doorway. No. That wasn't a woman! She wasn't human from the feel about her. Tenno in an organic body. Her face was remote, but held a tinge of sympathy. "My name is Alicia. I was sent to talk to you. To see if you needed anything and to gather more information."

"I need to know if they found Brianna." Kaitlin said quickly and bowed her head. "I should have known. He planned for everything. I bet he programmed me to do that, way back when."

"No, he programmed you for that just before he took her and altered her caste." Alicia said as she stepped into the room. Was that an Excalibur Prime warframe that took up station just outside the room before the door closed? Kaitlin stilled and Alicia nodded. "He was good. Iriana is _better_. _You_ are good though. You warned us about that when you delivered Mary and Elena to us. We didn't realize until we replayed the recording that you told _us_ you had been programmed."

"I did? Good. Parts of that are a blur." Kaitlin swallowed hard and relaxed as best she could. "Can they undo it?"

"Iriana did." Alicia reassured her and Kaitlin slumped in relief. "It wasn't much, basically to serve Brianna. To say what you did and that would activate the next step in his protocol. We don't know what he intended after that."

"Nothing good." Kaitlin growled. "Mary? How is Mary?" She all but begged.

"Kid is better." A tender look that seemed utterly out of place on a hard Tenno face crossed Alicia's expression before vanishing. "We don't know for sure, but she didn't seize last night at all, so that is good. She woke up hungry and is clamoring to talk to you."

"So soon? _Don't let her!_" Kaitlin said savagely, shrinking back on the couch. "She should not have woken for another day at the very least! If he _did_ program me, then I may still be a danger! I don't know what I did! It was all instinctive. Just like hurting her was."

"That is clear from what the docs got, but I just heard from _my_ boss. I need to debrief you." Alicia said mildly as she sat on another couch that unfolded from the wall across the room. Kaitlin stared at her and Alicia shrugged. "There is no need to be rude."

"After what I did to Brianna, if I were in your place? _I_ would be _quite_ rude." Kaitlin shook her head. "What I did was dumb."

"What you did was _planned_." Alicia corrected her grimly. "The planner could _not_ have planned for Brianna's reaction to him or her tossing him out on his ass, but still… Caution is warranted. That evil piece of trash was sneaky as hell."

"Yes, he was and it is." Kaitlin agreed. "I um… What do you wish to know, Tenno Alicia? There is some I cannot say, confidences that Brianna held dear and others."

She trailed off as Alicia nodded and energy flared around the room's corners. Kaitlin stilled as several things in the walls went 'pop' and smoke started to rise in several others. She paled, but again, Alicia beat her to speech.

"The cameras and microphones will self repair. This was authorized by Kat and the tower." Alicia reassured the stricken Orokin. "This room is now as secure as anywhere in this solar system. I am read in on most of what Brianna held secret. I am a servant of the Empress and of Tenno Intelligence."

"Oh." Kaitlin closed her mouth that had fallen open with a click. "Um, no offense, but… Can that be faked?" Alicia just looked at her and Kaitlin wilted "I… My trust has been abused."

"That it has. Can it be faked? Possibly." Alicia allowed. "Someone could probably impersonate one of us. Could they do it in a way that would not be detectable fairly quickly and acted on just as quickly? I doubt that. We do talk to one another. Gather information. It was supposed to be our only job." Sadness peeked out of her eyes for a moment before vanishing. "That didn't last."

"I know the feeling." Kaitlin settled back in her couch and nodded. "What do you wish to know, Tenno Alicia. If I cannot answer, then I will say that I cannot answer."

"Fair enough." Alicia sat up straight and nodded. "What are your first memories of Lorinos Orokin?"

"My _very first _impressions?" Kaitlin asked, a bit dubious. Alicia nodded and Kaitlin made a face but then smiled. "This is going to be a long day, but I doubt I will be bored much."

"Good attitude." Alicia smiled back but waited while Kaitlin marshaled her thoughts.

"I think..." Kaitlin mused. "My first impression was 'Bolder than than even a Councilor should be' when he walked into my tower without even a 'hello'. There are protocols for a reason. If I hadn't deactivated my security, it would have fired on him and maybe killed him, Councilor or no. I wish it had. Oh, how I wish it had now!"

"This will be hard for you." Alicia warned. "But we need more information to have any idea what Lorinos was planning. Anyo just did something totally insane, even for him." Kaitlin stared at her and Alicia frowned. "What do you know of Sara?"

"Sara?" That was fairly common name for human females, but there was only one person with that name that she had heard really bad things attached to. The file had been fairly memorable. And terrifying! "Um… The… Uh..." Kaitlin quickly stopped and corrected herself. "_Tenno Serene_ and _Amelia Priosa's_ _daughter_ Sara?" Alicia nodded. "Um… To leave her _alone_." Kaitlin said fervently. "Lorinos had a file on her that I accessed, but it ended with the note to leave her alone or things would get very bad, very fast. Anyo didn't?" Kaitlin groaned as Alicia nodded. "That is going to hurt."

"Putting it _very_ mildly." Alicia replied. "He sent the Clergy a note that he wanted to open negotiations and that he had a hostage. In that note, he named her." Kaitlin put hand to her face and Alicia nodded. "Bad idea. The Clergy as a whole declared war to the knife against Nef Anyo for his violation of their breeding colony and for that."

"'War to the knife'?" Kaitlin inquired. "Just that sound of that sends shivers up my spine, but I do not know what that means."

"It is a quote that was ancient when Orokin was founded." Alicia said grimly. "There are many who are attributed to saying it or things like it, but no one knows exactly where it came from. 'War to the knife and the knife to the hilt' There are all kinds of connotations, some military, some economic, some religious, some just plain _weird_. Basically, for our purposes, the Reverend Mother just released all restraints on her people." Kaitlin stared at the Tenno in horror and Alicia nodded. "They had been careful to avoid excessive collateral damage and tried to limit non-combatant casualties. That ended this morning. So far, I know of twelve Corpus ships utterly wrecked with their crews still inside. One of them was very big. I do not know whose they were, but I bet few if any were Clergy supporters. It is only going to get worse. That woman is madder than hell and she is _not_ someone to anger. I _saw_ what she left behind on Neptune and it shook _me_. He has no idea what he just unleashed."

"Could this be part of the plan?" Kaitlin begged. "To drive the Clergy to such open warfare? From what little I know about them, that is not their way."

"It could be." Alicia allowed. "We need more information."

"Okay." Kaitlin sat back and thought hard. "Lorinos Orokin. Hmmm… He was beautiful as only a true high caste could be. I was dirty, hadn't slept or eaten in a while and I was more than a bit frazzled by everything that had happened. I remember he asked me what was wrong and I replied 'Everything'. He um… He seemed sympathetic..."

This would take while, but hopefully Kaitlin could help. Maybe help Brianna or at least help _someone!_

* * *

Eight hours later

Kaitlin woke from her second nap rested but instantly aware of scrutiny. She opened her eyes and froze as she saw the familiar small form that sat in chair next to her couch! Mary looked like hell, pale with bloodshot eyes. Had she been crying?

"Mary? No! Don't touch me!" Kaitlin begged as Mary reached for her. "I don't want to hurt you again! Guard!" She called but no one answered. "Where is the guard!" She demanded, trying to back away from Mary, but stymied by the wall as the girl moved her chair closer. "Tower!"

"They can't hear you right now. The mikes and cameras haven't self repaired yet. You didn't mean to hurt me." Mary grabbed Kaitlin's hand despite the Orokin's frantic retreat.

"Please let go, Mary!" Kaitlin begged, not daring to move. "I hurt you before, I could do worse this time!"

"Not now that Healer Iriana knows what to do." Mary replied, both of her hands gripping the frozen Orokin long fingers in a gentle, but firm grip. "She saw what you did to save me in your memory and figured it out. She was impressed. She is hard to impress." Mary said with a small, sad smile.

"She seems competent." Kaitlin said softly. "Mary! You can't be here! If they find you here..."

"We do not have time for _you_ to argue!" Mary said with a glower that looked far older than her years. "I need you to talk to someone. You need to hear some things that will bother you."

"Mary! Please!" Kaitlin begged as Mary looked to the side, then she stilled as a tiny gray mass of energy appeared against the wall. Were those sobs coming from it?

"Gretchen." Mary sounded worried now. "Gretchen, Kaitlin Executor is here and awake. You need to tell her. You need to tell her _now_."

"It is all bad." Came a tiny, scared voice from the gray mass. "Everything is bad. No matter what I do, it is going to be bad!"

"Gretchen, we may be able to fix this, but we need to work together to do it!" Mary sad sternly as Kaitlin stared from her to the energy form and back. "Kaitlin Executor, I know you are angry and ancestors know you have cause. So does Gretchen. She was taken by the same being who imprisoned you and then she was altered into energy form against her will. Just like you." Kaitlin jerked, but Mary wasn't done. "_She_ was pure human and three years old."

"What?" Kaitlin had thought herself beyond horror, but it dawned anew. "She…" She shook her head. "I am no healer, Mary. I don't know how to help her." Kaitlin bowed her head. "I was a monster, never a healer."

"No, you were _focused_." Mary said sadly as she pulled on Kaitlin's hand. "You can help her! She doesn't need healing. She needs a focus and you do too. What happened to her was awful, but you need to hear the rest. You won't believe it, but you need to hear it."

"Hear what?" Kaitlin went totally still as the door hissed open behind Mary and _Micah_ walked in, followed by a Saryn warframe! "_You._" Her hate filled voice stilled as Gretchen's sobs increase in volume.

"_Micah!_" Gretchen pleaded and the unarmored Tenno held out a hand. Kaitlin started to protest as the gray energy swept to his hand, but it curled around his hand and his face was oddly tender as he cupped the energy in both hands. "Oh, Micah!" Was that _love_ in her voice? Grief stricken love?

"Don't cry, Gretchen." Micah said quietly. "What will be, will be." The face he turned to Kaitlin held horror, fear, self-loathing, all of that and so much more. "You hate me, Kaitlin Executor, and you have every right to. So does she." He nodded to the energy around his hands. "I was ordered to bring her to my master. I did." he slumped. "Ancestors, forgive me, I did."

"You tried to help me, Micah!" Gretchen was trying to be stern, but she didn't manage it very well. "It wasn't your fault!"

"Fault doesn't come into it, Gretchen." Micah said heavily. "I brought you to him and I knew it was evil when I did that. Just as I knew it was evil when he ordered me to imprison Kaitlin Executor in that horrid tank. The fact that I could not disobey was immaterial. I _knew_ it was evil and I did it. I have to _try_ and make _something_ better."

"You _tried_ and he _punished_ you!" Gretchen all but spat that out.

"It didn't work.." Micah retorted. "He wasn't about to let any of you run around loose, especially not Beta. All I did was take you from your mother for no gain."

"You tried to save me the only way you could! I don't blame you." Gretchen's energy swirled around the Tenno now. It coalesced and seemed to hover between Micah and Kaitlin. "It wasn't his fault!" She declared.

"Fault doesn't come into it." Micah repeated sadly as he bowed his head. "I had to apologize to Kaitlin Executor. I hurt her just as badly as I hurt you."

"_YOU DIDN'T HURT ME!_" Gretchen screamed. "_DON'T DIE, MICAH!_" She swirled closer to Kaitlin who stared at the gray energy as Gretchen started to babble. "Please don't let him die! Please?" Gretchen begged. "He took me into his energy, buffered me when the evil one tried to pull me out. The evil one hurt him, so badly, but he refused to let me go. He planned to show me to someone, maybe another Councilor, maybe a Tenno, but he was discovered and held and I couldn't help him and-"

"Gretchen, stop." Micah interrupted her firmly. "I earned her ire. I had to apologize."

"Die?" Kaitlin said slowly. "You are full Tenno. How can you die?"

"The same way you can. Disruption of energy. My kind were bound to those we served." Micah said with a nod. "Body and soul. We were too powerful to let run around loose." Kaitlin nodded manifestly against her will. "With Lorinos...sequestered… My failsafe will activate soon and I will perish. Brianna Executor could have possibly taken my oath, perhaps found a way for me to serve, but Lorinos' evil touched her through you. It was _not your fault._" He said sternly when Kaitlin sank back on the couch. "It was Lorinos, not you. He abused us both. He abused so many, used _me_ to abuse to many, and when Brianna Executor woke me, I hoped for a chance at atonement, but it is not to be. All I can do is apologize and hope you accept it. Or at the very least, move past your hate and live anew to spite him."

Kaitlin stared as the Tenno she hated more than anything else in the universe sank to the floor. Then she looked at Mary who bowed her own head. Gretchen was swirling again, but this time, the Saryn had a hand up and sickly looking pale green energy caught and held the gray mass away from Micah. Gretchen was clearly trying to get to Micah, but the Tenno in the warframe wasn't going to let her. But something was nagging Kaitlin. Something important. Her talk with Alicia had reminded her of so much, good, bad, indifferent. She had forgotten so much.

"Why do I hate you?" Kaitlin said very softly, scrutinizing her own memory. "Yes, you imprisoned me, but I never _saw_ you after that. You were not rough. _Brianna_ was not rough. _Neither_ of you were rough. You are Tenno in a warframe. You could have hurt me so much worse. _She_ was inexorable, but she wasn't _cruel_. _Lorinos_ was cruel. Neither of you were. Why do I hate you?" She asked, more to herself than anyone else.

"Bingo." Mary's soft word had Kaitlin's head shooting up to see Mary was smiling. An odd smile. It looked far older than she was. "_Right_ question." Was that dark green energy behind her eyes? It faded even as Brianna stared at it. Mary's smile was wide now, though. More childlike. Odd.

"He did it before, didn't he?" That was to the Saryn who looked at Kaitlin. "If Iriana found programming in my mind from just before Brianna was changed, did she look further back?" She demanded. "Did Lorinos program me _before?_"

"Are you sure you want to know?" The Saryn asked softly. "You have every right to anger after how you were treated."

"Yes!" Kaitlin snapped as she moved to the edge of the bed. Micah's eyes were closed now and Gretchen's sobs were grief stricken. He was dying! "Micah imprisoned me, but _Lorinos_ hurt me! Not him. Nor Brianna! I... I remember. Micah _apologized as he bound me!_ He didn't need to! He was gentle! Why! _Why do I hate them?_ I _need_ to know."

"They were the only ones who could possibly help you, free you." The Saryn was sad now and she nodded as Kaitlin felt herself go pale in shock. "Yes, he programmed you to defy them if they tried to help. Brianna tried and you refused to let her."

"What?" Kaitlin staggered to her feet, Mary still holding her hand. "I…"

"You had been unjustly imprisoned, so a certain amount of anger is totally understandable, but this? No. This was imposed. Your memories are fuzzy, but there are parts that have been clear." The Saryn said very quietly. "Brianna was bleeding after Lorinos hit her and stormed out. She knew it was going to get worse. He was doing a lot of things that violated rules that must _never_ be broken. Rules that sent me and those like me to 'rectify' situations. She deactivated the screen, tried to free you and you fought her."

"I… I _what?_" Kaitlin begged. "Did I _hurt_ her?"

"No." The Saryn reassured her, but the relief was short lived. "You delayed her long enough for Lorinos to come back and when he found her trying to free you…" The warframe looked away. "He reacted badly. He had partial control of the tower. She had no chance. You don't remember. He blocked your memories, but he was not skilled enough to destroy _some_ of them without destroying you utterly and he didn't want to do that. He needed what you knew."

"What have I done?" Kaitlin felt nausea rise. Then it faded the tower soothed her as it had been designed so long ago. By her. Back when she had been young for Orokin, idealistic. Foolish perhaps, but dedicated. She shook her head as she stared at Micah. "No." Her tone firmed. "_No!_"

"We only have your memories to go on and they are not clear. We can-" The Saryn started, but Kaitlin had heard enough. She pulled free of Mary's hand, careful not to jar the hurt girl. But Mary was smiling! An oddly tender, knowing smile that seemed far older than her years! Later. She would inquire later. If she _had_ a later.

"That is not what I mean." Kaitlin went to her knees beside the now shuddering Tenno and laid both of her hands on his head. "No one _else_ dies for _me!_"

Many people were speaking, but she ignored them all as she focused her will as she had not in a long, long time. Kaitlin Executor, highest caste of Orokin, did not hesitate as she cast herself into an alien mind.


	13. Chapter 13

**Deeper and darker**

Kaitlin stared at her surroundings. The world around her was composed of dark walls that were made of stone. She seemed to be standing in a natural cave from what little she remembered from her geology training, but the colors were off. Not like anything she had seen. She shook her head. She was in Micah's mind. It stood to reason that things would be-

Strange.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Kaitlin spun and all but gawped at what she saw.

The form that stood in front of her was clearly not human. It was short, stout and bald. It also had a bushy red beard. The armor that the form wore was clearly high tech but nothing she had ever seen and the device he held was clearly a weapon of some kind by how he held it, but again, it was like nothing Kaitlin had ever seen. She slowly shook her head. This was sort of familiar, but mostly not. Nothing _she_ had every seen, but… Something nagged at her memory. Something someone had said? She ignored that. She did not have time to investigate right now. Maybe later.

"I am looking for Micah." Kaitlin said with a polite nod to the very strange looking being in front of her. For his part, he gaped at her, eyes huge. "Do you know where he is?"

"You are looking for someone. _Here?_" The other demanded. Then he spun and his weapon barked twice. A huge misshapen form that had appeared out of the shadows fell to lie still. "This is not a good place to talk, human!"

"I am not human." Kaitlin replied as the shadows came alive again. This time, the short being fired something that hit the wall and flashed into bright white light, showing many forms out of nightmare crawling across the floor, walls and ceiling towards the pair. "I am also not impressed."

"Well, excuse me for wondering why a _being who looks like a__ human_ is walking around on Hoxxes IV." Kaitlin shook her head as the other's weapon apparently ran out of ammunition and instead of trying to reload as a horde of small forms rushed him, he drew an oddly shaped ax and laid about with it. No, That wasn't an ax. It had sharp points on both sides, not blades. So, a pick? A mining tool?

Kaitlin focused her mind as the being in front of her fought and then golden power flared from her in a wave that spread quickly across the floor. As it did, the nightmarish forms retreated from it. The armored form in front of her gasped in relief for a moment and then recovered, blood falling from numerous small wounds that he ignored.

"Who the hell are you?" The short man demanded, reloading his weapon. "BOSCO!" He snapped and a small hovering thing swept into view. "Scan! Find me more Morkite!" What had to be a robot of some kind beeped and flew off into the darkness.

"My name is Kaitlin." The Orokin gave the weird being a polite nod again. "You are?"

"Eh, Karl. Karl 119-K." The other replied, his features creased with confusion. "This isn't right."

"No. No, it isn't, Karl 119-K." Kaitlin agreed. "There is someone named Micah in here and he is in grave danger. I need to help him."

"There is _another_ human wandering around in here?" Karl 119-K demanded. "Oh, Corporate is gonna _flip _right out!"

"Micah isn't human any more than I am, but he is in danger and I need to help him." Kaitlin shook her head as she scrutinized the environment. "I do not know where I am or what is going on. What I do know is that this place is clearly dangerous and you seem to know it. I am betting he is near the bottom of this cave if it follows any rules I am familiar with." The other stared at her. "Can you guide me to the bottom of this cave?"

"The bottom?" Karl 119-K actually shuddered. "Do you have _any_ idea what is down there?"

"No, I don't." Kaitlin admitted. "But Micah is probably down there too." That stood to reason. The deepest recesses of his mind would hold his psyche and whatever Orokin tech was killing him.

"Then he is dead." Karl 119-K said flatly.

"No one else dies for me." Kaitlin said with a growl as a skittering sounded and the small being in front of Kaitlin tensed, his weapon ready. The walls came alive again, this time with larger forms. But this time, _she_ was ready. Karl 119-K's eyes went huge as a large cylindrical thing appeared in Kaitlin's hands. It was a good thing this was some kind of mental plane, because there was literally no way that she could have hefted the Imperator machine gun in real life without a hefty use of power. Even warframes could not use such easily in gravity. The red bearded being's mouth fell open as both barrels of the weapon Kaitlin held opened fire and the entire wall was cleared of many legged horrors in seconds. She shook her head as the weapon whined, starting to recharge. "If you cannot or do not wish to guide me, I will go myself."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Karl 119-K reached down to his belt and pulled out what looked like an honest to god _flask_. He took a long drink from it and put it back wherever he had produced it from. "I think I like you. That may not be a good thing."

"Welcome to my world." Kaitlin fired another burst and a thing that had been trying to approach as the light to the wall dimmed fell to lie still on the floor. She started walking, slowed by her weapon, but not about to lose it. "I really do not have a lot of time here. I need to find Micah."

"Eh." The other sighed deeply and then nodded. "Ah, well. Was getting bored with the upper levels anyway. Better resources down there. Getting out will be no fun, but hey, no risk, no reward."

"You help me, I will help you." Kaitlin replied.

On one level, she was aware that this was completely insane. This could not be happening. On another? She was inside the mind of a Tenno. _That_ was insane. So, either she had fallen completely off her rocker or this was some kind of mental framework that Micah used for some reason she could not fathom. Either way, she was committed. If she left him here, Micah died. She would not allow that.

"You are offering to help get me to the bottom." Karl 119-K said slowly. Kaitlin nodded. "And you ask no reward?"

"The only thing I want to do is to help Micah." Kaitlin replied as she started for a small tunnel she could see nearby. It would be cramped, but she could manage.

"Not that way." The other sighed deeply and turned to what looked like a blank wall. "This way."

"Um..." Kaitlin stilled as a rhythmic pounding sounded. A part of the wall fell out and another small stocky form stepped out, lowering his hands that had some kind of _drills_ on the ends of them? His armor looked heavier and he looked a bit bigger, but still less than three quarters Kaitlin's height. His beard was gold, but the rest of his face was hidden by a heavy looking visor. Even without seeing his eyes, Kaitlin could tell he was goggling at her.

"What the frak?" The voice from the other was sharp as he took in the scene and Kaitlin's huge weapon. "Um... Karl? Are you making friends again?"

"Be nice to the lady with the really big gun, George." The red bearded one warned. "George 390-C, this is Kaitlin." Karl 119-K nodded to the Orokin, "She says she needs to get to the bottom of the cave and says she can help get me there. You know what is down there. You in?"

"That _is_ a big gun." The newcomer said slowly. "But _she_ is big. She won't fit in our tunnels."

"So make them bigger." Karl 119-K said with a grin.

"I only carry so much fuel, you idiot scout!" The other said with a growl of annoyance.

"I found a nice fat vein of Nitra." Karl 119-K said with a shrug. "Got enough for three, four resupplies."

"Would that be _enough_?" Georges demanded and then sighed. "You know Doc is going to flirt with her and Sean will want her gun."

"I do not have time for this." Kaitlin said mildly. "Lead, follow or get out of the way."

"You find the damndest things, Karl 119-K, just like your namesake." Georges 390-C said sourly and then shook his head. He sighed and turned, his drills coming up again, but aimed down. "The others will be here in a minute or two. Still trying to find those blasted fossils."

"More will be down below." Karl 199-K had a grin in his voice as he turned to Kaitlin. "You are nuts, human or no."

"Yes, I am." Kaitlin shrugged as the drills started chunking and material started flying out of the hole that the other being was digging. "But it doesn't matter. I need to find Micah."

"Rock and stone." Karl 119-K said with a nod as the tunneler drove deeper into the wall. "You are almost crazy enough to be a dwarf."

"Thanks. I think."

* * *

About ten minutes later

Kaitlin fired again and a monstrosity that had been extending a tentacle of some kind towards one of her companions screeched as her five bolt burst tore its cover on the ceiling to pieces. Karl 119-K fired a careful shot from his rifle and the thing disintegrated.

"Lots of leechers in here." The scout warned as Kaitlin scanned the area with her senses. "We cannot go much further. There is just too much for us."

"You got me this far. Thank you." Kaitlin nodded to the dwarf who stared at her. "Where I go next, you _cannot_ follow. You got what you needed, yes?"

"More than we needed." Came from a white bearded being who was busy hammering yet another turret into place. As soon as he finished, it opened fire as he dove to the side, its automated bursts tearing into an alien bug that had managed to sneak close somehow. "M.U.L.E. is _creaking_. First time I have seen that happen."

All the way down, the others had been 'ooo'-ing and 'ah'-ing over the various minerals they had found and mined in the walls along the way. It hadn't slowed her, for which she was grateful. Whatever this weird place was, she clearly had to pass it to get to Micah, so she had been, but with a few cheats here and there.

"I was not going to ask you to do this for _free_." Kaitlin's Imperator barked again and another huge insectoid form bit the dust. "Go. I will be okay."

"You are crazy, human. Cute but crazy." The engineer being said sourly as he backed towards where the large square robot sat.

"Still want one of them guns!" Came as a burst of fire sounded from the twin barreled weapon that the other member of the party carried. He had all but demanded the weapon when he had seen it, but had shut up when Kaitlin had decimated something called a Praetorian with a five shot burst. None of them wanted to cross her. Wise of them.

"Good luck with that." Kaitlin stepped towards the way down that she could see and paused as Karl 119-K fired another flare that way. "Thank you." She nodded to him and he nodded back.

She could feel wrongness ahead of her. Something was very wrong. But she had to find Micah. She had to. She did not look back as the team that had led her down retreated the way they had come. Then she entered a larger room and came to a sudden stop as it brightened. She stared at the _ancient human_ _concert hall_ that she had stepped into and banished her weapon with a thought. Gold shone in places, so… Orokin, but it looked antique as if intended to look even older than Orokin, as odd as that was. The hall was bright but empty. The orchestral pit was dark. She shook her head slowly and started for where the ancient musicians would have sat a very long time ago.

"Don't!" A very small voice sounded from ahead. Micah! She shook her head and he continued, anger flaring. "No! Don't! You can't!"

"Why?" Kaitlin asked as she stepped into her darkness to see one chair occupied. "Why do you not want help?"

"I hurt you." Micah was not in armor and he didn't seem bound. He was listless though, just sitting there.

"No, you didn't." Kaitlin smiled as she stepped up to the Tenno. "This is your mind. The other was a bridge from mine. I think… Yes, I remember Oriso liked games when he was not in the field. I don't remember that one, but it seems like one he would have enjoyed. Guns, danger and working together to beat long odds. That was his kind of thing." Sadness rose and she acknowledged it before letting it pass.

"You can't _be_ here!" Micah protested. "The failsafe will kill me and if you are here, you _too!_"

"No one else dies for me, Micah!" Kaitlin said firmly as she reached for the sitting Tenno, but her hand passed right through him. "Like that, huh? Okay. I can work with this."

"You have to leave! No!" Micah all but begged as golden power surrounded Kaitlin.

"You were abused just as badly as I was." Kaitlin said softly. "Maybe worse. I don't know all of what he did. I do need to know one thing." Micah shook his head. "How many samples did he use, Micah?"

"I don't know!" Micah groaned as dark power seeped up his limbs, but it was pushed back by Kaitlin's gold. If it reached his head, he would cease to be. No. She would _not_ allow that. "You can't stop this! Let go! Let me go! I have… I have to atone."

"Death is not an atonement!" Kaitlin said with a growl. Her words were more to herself than to the Tenno. "I never took you for a quitter, Tenno Micah."

"You do not know what I have done!" Micha snarled. 'You have no idea- _NO!_" He screamed as the light came up and other forms started striding in and taking seats around the pair. They paid Kaitlin and Micah no heed at all! They all had _his_ face, male and female alike!

"Clones." Kaitlin said softly and Micah slumped in his seat. "This is a clone orchestra. One of the orchestras that my kind used to make for their amusement. But… None of those clones had a long lifespan. None lived more than a year. Many of us decried such waste but others did not care."

"Don't!" Micah's voice was very small now. "Please!"

"Micah." Kaitlin knelt by the chair and shook her head as the darkness rose again. "You were made by an Orokin. Lorinos?"

"No." Micah bowed his head. "Her name was Julianagos. She… She is gone. She died and I… I..."

"Micah, your past is your business, not mine. I need to focus on the future. Yours and mine." Kaitlin took hold of his hands, her golden power making him substantial enough for that. He stared at her hands and then at her face as the room suddenly swelled with beautiful music. The Tenno was shuddering as the power within him fought Kaitlin's. It was evenly matched. "Do you want to atone for what you did? To me, to Gretchen? To others?"

"Yes, but..." Micah stared at the Orokin. "I am Tenno. A servant of Lorinos. I am bound."

"Are you?" Kaitlin's smile was gentle now as her power suddenly flared, encompassing them both. "I see. Sneaky, sneaky, Biological and energy both. Hard to counter, but possible. I can free you from this, but I need you to do something for me. I need you to check the vault. I will give you access."

"I am about to die!" Micah protested, trying to struggle, but getting nowhere. "You need to leave before- NO!" He screamed again as a torrent of form from horrific nightmare flooded into the hall! None of the clones as much as _looked up_ as the Infested ripped into them! In moments, the room was silent except for cries of Infested and one, small voice begging. They ignored Kaitlin and the Micah in the chair.

"I need to play!" The clone tried to reach for his broken instrument with shattered arms that pulsed with foul radiance now. The Infested paid him no mind, moving to leave the room. "I need… to play..."

"I need..." Micah's voice matched the clone's as it weakened! "...to play..."

"No." A firm voice sounded and Kaitlin stilled as a Tenno entered the room, clad in a Harrow warframe! Energy flared and Infested screamed, died. The Tenno moved to the clone and laid a hand on the shuddering form. "Boy, it is okay. You will hurt, but you will live. You can transcend it, live out a full life if you so choose. For now, rest, you have taken the first step into much larger and darker world."

Micah was sobbing in Kaitlin's arms as the Harrow warframe picked up the broken clone and carried him from the hall.

"It wasn't his fault." The voice came from beside Kaitlin and she was not actually surprised when a green Harrow warframe appeared beside her. The same one from moments before. "He found his calling, found love, created a family who were not infected, lost them and endured as Tenno always have. Then he found a new calling. It wasn't his fault that the Orokin Councilman he chose to serve wound up being one of the worst of his kind."

"_LEAVE ME ALONE, ANATOLY!_" Micah screamed. "_LET ME DIE __LIKE YOU PROMISED__!_"

"Anatoly?" Kaitlin said weakly. She had read Brianna's files. Anatoly was a horror. A Tenno renegade who had been pushing things behind the scenes for a _very_ long time, almost since Orokin had been founded.

"I know." The Harrow warframe shook his head. "You cannot trust me, but you can trust _this_. Your formula was almost a perfect copy of what made Katherine what she was. _That_ was what drew Lorinos and me to you. What drew so many others with both fair goals _and_ foul." Kaitlin stared at the Tenno who shrugged. "You saved Mary. Well done. You _cannot_ save Brianna. _I_ cannot. He _can._" He nodded to the sobbing Tenno in the chair.

"What happened here?" Kaitlin asked as she hugged Micah whose was now just sobbing as the dark power rose again and was beaten back by her own power yet again.

"I was sent to an outbreak. I was lost. Lost in my fury over what happened to Katherine." Anatoly's voice was hushed, sad. "I don't know what caused the outbreak here. I doubt anyone knew. There were so many who were lax with haz-mat protocols in those days, trusting that we Tenno could handle anything. We couldn't, of course. We were not perfect. I didn't expect to find a survivor in that slaughterhouse that had been a music hall. A _clone_ of all things! But he recovered and he thrived among us. I was so angry at what had happened to Katherine, I think..." He paused and shook his head. "Yes, I think even then I was planning revenge. To try and gain revenge for something that the Tenno did not do. For something Katherine did to _herself_." He bowed his head. "I did love her and, god help me, I love her still."

"Let me die, please!" Micah begged both of them. They ignored him.

"What did Lorinos plan to do with Brianna?" Kaitlin asked, not relaxing at all. "You were involved, weren't you?"

"Some." Anatoly shrugged as she glared at him. "Neither of us trusted the other, but I wanted Katherine back. I would have given _anything at all_ to get Katherine back." He shrugged again as she growled at him "What would _you_ do to get Oriso Dax back?"

"What do you know of him?" Kaitlin demanded as Micah sobbed in her arms.

"Quite a bit." Anatoly sighed deeply. "I killed him."


	14. Chapter 14

**Truths**

"You didn't kill him." Kaitlin said slowly. "I did."

"That is not true." Anatoly replied as he laid a hand on Micah's head and shook his head as the sitting Tenno tried to rise, tried to fight, tried to do _anything_ and could not. He was bound by the dark power that was still fighting to to rise but was held in check by Kaitlin's power. "One of the things I promised Katherine was that I would let no one repeat the horror that made her what she became." His voice held a soft, sad smile now. "She could never accept me for what I was. I was not a good man before I became Tenno and I was not a good Tenno. Too full of rage. Too quick to judge. On the battlefield, I was at home, but elsewhere? I was too harsh. Too… Too flawed. Too human." He shook his head. "It hurts, but now I know she was right to deny me. It would not have ended well. I saw her as the perfect mate and I never wanted to see her flaws. I cannot imagine we would lasted as a couple."

"What does that have to do with Oriso Dax?" Kaitlin was astonished that she was so calm.

"Everything." Anatoly's warframe met her gaze and his face plate retracted. His non-human face held a sad expression. "When Katherine died, she made me swear on my honor, on hers, that I would kill anyone who I found who went through what she did. I didn't know why, except that it was a horrible thing to endure." He shook his head. "I found out recently the whole truth and I… I had to rethink some things. A lot of things. I do not like where my thoughts have taken me."

"But… why?" Kaitlin begged as her power flared anew. The dark power in Micah was struggling to rise. She forced it back.

"If Katherine had ever reproduced, things would have gotten very bad for humanity. She was a superior breed of human. Not homo sapiens. Something better in every way. Faster, stronger, tougher. Just like the Dax. But _unlike_ the Dax, she was _not_ bred to serve. She was created to take control of the human race." Anatoly said with a frown. "By force if needed." Kaitlin stared at him in horror and he nodded. "You begin to understand. I was always determined to protect humanity. Even at my worst, I never wanted humanity destroyed." He muttered something about 'Katherine wouldn't have liked that'. "When I found you, when I entered your tower, I was ready to kill anyone and everyone responsible for repeating the horror that Katherine endured. But he stopped me. Your Dax did."

"But..." Katherine could not fathom this. "I..."

"You are not a bad person, Kaitlin Executor." Anatoly said heavily. "I was. I am. I was going to kill you and everyone else I found there." He made a face. "I can make no excuse other than I was trying to fulfill my love's dying request. Your Dax should have killed me, trespasser that I was. Instead of striking to kill from ambush as was wisest, he surprised me and disabled me temporarily. Then to my astonishment, he asked my help. We would have fought and I don't know who would have won. Instead? He asked me, _begged_ me to spare you. To kill _him._" Kaitlin was shaking her head, but Anatoly continued. "He understood, you see. He was feeling the urge even then."

"Urge? _What?_" Kaitlin repeated, a hairs-breadth away from anger. "I don't understand!"

"Kaitlin Executor, you are a biologist." Anatoly said with a sigh. "What is the single most powerful of instincts in _any_ species of living creature?"

"Survival." Kaitlin said slowly, and Anatoly nodded. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. Survival is one of the most powerful instincts, but if a species cannot reproduce, can it survive?" Anatoly asked her grimly and Kaitlin stiffened. "Some species do not survive for very long, so _all_ must reproduce or they go extinct. Be it a fruit fly or an Orokin, species reproduce or go extinct. Your Dax _knew_ what was happening to him. He could feel it rising. I could see it in his eyes. The fear of what he would do to _you_. I bet he knew the moment I entered the tower. It was easier to get in than it should have been. Maybe he let me in?" The Tenno mused. "I don't know. He was ready for me, ready to fight to the death for you, but instead, he talked. He begged me to spare you. He argued that the formula was intended to _save_ lives, not _destroy_ them. It saved my love's life, so… I couldn't really argue with that. But he knew he was too dangerous to live. That he would become a monster and his first victim would be someone he loved. You."

"Whatever I intended it for, I _killed_ him!" Kaitlin all but pleaded and Anatoly reached out slowly to touch her arm. "I loved him and I killed him! The formula failed! Killed him!"

"He loved you too. As a Dax to an Orokin. One of the rare _kind_ Orokin who thought about _her servants'_ needs before _hers_." Anatoly replied heavily. "But no. The formula worked. You were exhausted after watching over his change. You did everything you could to curb his pain in the change and you succeeded. He didn't suffer nearly as badly as Katherine did. Which is likely the only reason that Brianna survived it, the beings who became her pack did what you did. Eased her through it." He shook his head. "You? Helping him exhausted you. You fell asleep in your chair and when he woke, he found you asleep. He ran from you for fear of his own baser instincts. It was not your fault. You couldn't have known about that part of it."

"I woke and he was dead! He died in that bed!" Kaitlin snapped. "Your words ring false!"

"Yes, he did die there." Anatoly replied. "We sedated you to get him back to the bed and I let him kiss you goodbye before he lay down there. I knew how to make it look natural. I did. For what little it is worth, he did not suffer, Kaitlin Executor. He went to sleep and did not wake. I kept my word to him, I did not kill you. You did not kill Oriso Dax. _I_ _did_."

"So? All the people I killed experimenting after that…?" Kaitlin buried her face in her hands. "All those souls I snuffed out…? I… What was it for? For _nothing?_"

"No." Anatoly gave her arm a squeeze. "Your _goal_ was a worthy one. It was perverted by evil, mine and others, as such goals all too often are, but your goal was to help people. That led you to here. To now. A hard, pain filled road, but one you have walked well. _You_ are worthy of the title Executor. So is Brianna Executor. Now? You can repay some of what you have done. I cannot. I have done too much, hurt too many, _killed_ too many to ever find forgiveness. As bad as what you did was, I did worse, for far longer. I thought I did it for my love, but I was wrong. Upon a great of reflection, I am forced to admit that I did it for myself." He slumped a bit, his hand falling away from Kaitlin's arm. "You needed the truth. I have given it." He shook his head. "Micah does not deserve this. I do. Lorinos does. Micah does _not._"

"No." Kaitlin turned back to the sitting Tenno who head was bowed, tears falling freely. When she looked up, the Harrow warframe was gone. She sighed and focused on the crying Tenno. "He is right. Micah, you do not deserve this."

"I do." Micah pleaded but Kaitlin took his head in her hands and pulled his head up so he met her eyes. She smiled sadly at him.

"I do not, _cannot,_ trust the Tenno named Anatoly, but he did make a good point." Kaitlin said heavily. "I cannot help Brianna. Perhaps you can."

"I am about to die when your power fades!" Micah said savagely. "And it is about bloody _time!_"

"No." Kaitlin pulled Micah out of the chair and cradled him close. "No, you are not. _No one else dies for me._ Be true to the Code, Tenno."

A pulse of golden power and the chair blew up. Micah screamed as the dark power flowed free from its confinement in that construct, but only for a moment. Then it was _swallowed_ by Kaitlin's golden power. Pulled into her body inside that golden power. She staggered and then slowly bent to lay him on the floor.

"What have you done?" Micah demanded as he swept to his feet. For her part, Kaitlin fell to her knees, her face ashen.

"A life freely given. A life freely saved. You are needed, Tenno." Kaitlin's voice was bare whisper. "Be true to the Code. Check the vault. See how many samples...are left… How many… Lorinos used. If he gave any _away_!"

"What have you done?" Micah demanded as her voice faded and the world fell away. "What have you _DONE?_"

There was no answer.

* * *

Reality

Micah was crying as he returned to awareness. He opened his eyes and Kaitlin Executor lay on the floor in front of him, her eyes wide and sightless. Was she breathing?

"_No._" Micah begged as he reached for her, but black armored hands caught his and held them away. He stared up at a pitch black Nekros warframe. "No! Grandmaster! No!"

"She ain't dead, boy." Nikis sounded odd. Not scared. Not angry. Not sick. All of these and none. Micah stared at him and Nikis chuckled, but there was little mirth in it. "She is in a tower she built. It ain't gonna let her die."

"But..." Micah slumped as he saw the Orokin's energy flutter very slightly. She was alive. Barely. "I was ready."

"Know the feeling." Nikis said very quietly and Micah jerked staring up at the warframe. "Our kind forget a lot. We live so long, we do so much. Good, bad, indifferent, it all blurs. We found your records. Didn't know. Wasn't involved. But I gotta say: I am sorry for your losses."

"I..." Micah shook his head. "I was ready?" He begged but Nikis shook his head.

"You are needed." Nikis said with a growl as he rose to his feet, pulling Micah up to a seiza position. "You ain't alone, Micah Naramon. You ain't."

"Naramon? I… I haven't been him since I buried… them. Since I was bound." Micah said weakly, staring around to see many faces looking at him. Some were shades. Mary sat in her chair, face pale. Tenno Diana stood beside her, wary. "The failsafe? This is not _possible!_ What did she _do?_"

"She somehow stripped the failsafe out of you and pulled it into herself." Iriana said as she pushed to the fore and knelt beside the pair of Tenno. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, but the energy within her eyes was calm. "Her power and the tower are holding it at bay. I don't know how or why or even who built that failsafe originally, but I know what it does. The feel is distinct. It was in you and now? It is in _her_." She nodded to the unconscious Orokin. "She saved you."

"I begged her not to." Micah said weakly. "I had nothing to live for after Samantha and the kids died."

"It was an accident, Micah Naramon." Nikis sounded sick now. "Even Tenno buildings can be destroyed by freak earthquakes. What happened to them and so many others was tragic, but it was no one's fault. No one could have foreseen that the database was not accessing that area. No one."

"They all died! We could not even save their energy!" Micah begged as he bowed his head, tears falling to land on Kaitlin's un-moving face. "I-"

"Not all." A new voice sounded and Alicia stepped forward, pulling the arm of an unresistant Excalibur Prime warframe. Alicia gave the hesitant armored Tenno a shove as he would have balked. "Talk to him, Will."

"What do I say?" The Tenno in the Excalibur asked, sadness and fear warring in his tone. "I don't remember!"

"What?" Micah stilled as the others made way for the hesitant warframe. Iriana rose and pulled the Excalibur close to Micah. Nikis rose as well and stepped back, his hands folded in front of him. Trying to be non-threatening? It didn't work if so. Iriana released the Excalibur who remained where he was. She knelt beside Kaitlin and started checking her carefully.

"So much was lost when Orokin collapsed." Iriana was quite, reflective. "The Old War tore so many lives apart, so many souls were lost for greed, selfishness, the lust for power and so many betrayals. Tenno, the Sentients, the Orokin, the humans, the Grineer. No one won the Old War. Least of all family."

"I slept through most of that." Micah said with a wince. "But what does this have to do with-" He broke off as a familiar mass of gray energy hurtled to him and swirled around him. "Gretchen!"

"Micah!" Gretchen sounded jubilant. "You are not alone!" Her energy swirled around him, almost gleeful. "You need to talk to him!" Was that to the Excalibur?"

"I don't know what to say." The warframe clad Tenno sighed deeply as everyone whose face was visible glared at him. Then he knelt in front of Micah and his faceplate opened. Micah inhaled as he saw a face so similar to his own. But not quite. Not an exact copy, so not a clone. "I do not remember much about my family. Just that they died in the War."

"You are not a clone." Micah said slowly, almost fearful. Will shook his head. "But… That is not possible." He stared at Iriana and then at Nikis. "They all died."

"All but one." Iriana said very quietly. Micah stared at her and the Healer bowed her head. "When your wife realized she was not going to escape the collapsing building, she activated a piece of tech she had been working on. She was a Technician, not a Warrior."

"_Yes._" Micah dragged that word out, not looking away from Will whose face was blank. No, he could see tension in it. "What do you mean?"

"Will has people who love him, who went looking for his past when he recovered from injuries that would have slain many." Iriana said quietly. "The nutcase who Brianna was sold to took him and hurt him very badly, him and another Tenno. He escaped. She did not. She was rescued almost five years ago but the hurts both took were not things that can be fixed." Micah inhaled in horror, but Iriana held up a hand. "What is done is done. The scum who did it, who forced Brianna to hurt Will and Kori, paid with his life. Will took some time to heal but he is Tenno. He does his duty. He is a bit stubborn, my clan brother."

"_No!_" Came from many people all around. Will didn't move.

"But that does that have to do with Samantha?" Micah asked. "She died. The kids were with her and I wasn't _there!_" He fought to keep from crying and managed, barely.

"If you had been, you would be dead and unrecoverable." Iriana said sadly. "And _Will_ would be alone." She looked at Will, compassion in her eyes. "Do you want me to explain?"

"Please." Will said sadly. "You are better at dealing with people than I will ever be."

"It is just practice, Will. Same as with a skana. I have done it more than you have, that is all." Iriana said with a fond smile as she turned back to Micah who stared at her. "Your wife was very smart. She had a surprise planned for you. The docs told you." That was not a question, but Micah nodded anyway. "I am so sorry, Micah but there is _one_ tiny piece of good news. She couldn't save herself. She couldn't save your kids or anyone else in the building as it sank into the sea. But she _could_ save _someone._"

"I don't understand! Micah all but growled that. "She died! And… they all died!"

"All but_ one_." Iriana corrected him firmly and Micah froze.

"What?" Micah asked, stunned.

"You were long gone by the time work crews started excavating the remains of the building, opened up a destroyed room and ran into a solid wall of gray energy." Iriana said very softly. "Odd energy. _Tenno_ energy." Micah stared at her. "Do you remember what your wife was researching?"

"Samantha was focused on stasis fields, but… When the power systems failed, there wasn't enough power in that building to run anything large enough to save anyone when the structural integrity failed." Micah said sadly. "I hoped, but they looked and there was nothing. Just bodies."

"You are wrong." Iriana said with a smile as Micah stared at her. "She could only save _one_ life. The healers of the time were utterly flummoxed when they managed to open the field and found a _baby girl_ inside a womb pod inside that field." Micah stared at her and her smile turned tender. "Unborn. Intact. Alive. They called her Samantha. After her mom."

"What?" Micah begged. He turned to Nikis who nodded. The Grandmaster waved at Will who bowed his head.

"My grandmother's name was Samantha." Will said very quietly. "I only know that because Alicia refused to give up on looking. She found some records, but not a lot. We lost most of that in the War."

"Samantha's story was a fairly spectacular thing. The media at the time ate it up. The little girl did not lack for sponsors or help to form her own family." Iriana sighed. "But you were gone by then. Bound to that horrid Councilor."

"I..." Micah swallowed hard, undone by all this.

"What happened was a tragedy in so many ways." Iriana laid her hand on his arm, a gentle touch. "It was not your fault. What you did for Lorinos was also not your fault. The only fault lies with him. Not _you_."

"I... What do I do?" Micah stared at Will who bowed his head. He stared at Nikis who bowed _his! "_I don't know what to do!"

"You are Tenno and you are free." Iriana rocked back on her heels. "You can choose what to do now, but please, don't rush to seek atonement? There has been enough death recently."

"She told me 'Be true to the Code'." Micah said slowly, almost to himself. "I... Grandmaster?" He begged Nikis who shook his head.

"I got no right to choose a path for ya." Nikis shrugged. "Got enough trouble walkin' my own. You are who you are, Micah Naramon. I will keep an eye on ya, but I try to do that for every one of us old farts."

"I think I resent that." Micah said with a glower that bounced off Nikis' armored hide.

"Better get used to it. Ya is older than just about every other Tenno outside the Citadel but me. Rachel is gonna want to talk to ya. Bet there will tears there too." Nikis replied and started for the door. "Got places to go, people to shoot. Be true to the Code, Tenno."

Micah stared at the floor for a long moment and then Gretchen swirled around him again. He smiled a bit forlornly as she made a soft noise of comfort.

"You are not bad, Micah." Gretchen reassured him. "A bad one would not have tried to help me."

"I have been bad." Micah replied. "But this… Maybe I can do some good after all." He shook his head and bowed his head to Kaitlin's still form. When he spoke again, it was calm. "I need to talk to Kat."

"About?" Kat's voice preceded the woman into view. She was shaking her head but smiling.

"There is a vault in this tower." Micah could not have missed the sudden rise in tension if he had been blind and deaf. "You cannot access it, can you?"

"No." Kat replied, now stock still. "Even Brianna couldn't."

"I hope to god Lorinos didn't." Micah said as he rose and held out a hand to Will who took it. "But I fear he did."

"What is in it?" Kat asked, but from her eyes? She knew.

"Horror."


	15. Chapter 15

**Yes, Guest. That WAS Deep Rock Galactic: Danger, Darkness, Dwarves. REALLY fun game when it works.  
**

* * *

**Mad **

She was bored.

Sara had expected many things if she ever woke in Corpus hands again. Not this. Pain, fear, degradation, any and all kinds of medical experimentation, brainwashing… The list went on and on. She had seen more than her share of Corpus brutality as a child and since then, she had seen so many pitiful wrecks that the various grand high muckety mucks left behind when they were done. She had seen what the Corpus had done to both Serene and Amelia-

Sara fought hard to choke back a sob, but her minder was close as always.

"Sara?" Cassie asked as she moved a bit closer to Sara's bed. "Are you all right?"

"No." Sara said very softly. Lying to Cassie didn't work. The spider's senses were incredibly sharp even without being able to use any of her ultra high tech scanners. She had clearly dealt with children quite a bit and little that Sara tried got past her. The good news? She was kind.

Not something that Sara had expected on waking here of all places.

"Is there anything I can do?" Cassie asked, moving closer. A small appendage extended and Sara took it in both of her hands.

"I am really sick of this bed. How are my ears?" Sara asked and Cassie's other small appendage moved to trace the bandages on first side of Sara's head and then the other.

"There is no bleeding and the flesh has regrown." Cassie sounded unsure for a moment but then she made a noise of sympathy. "I know you are bored, Sara. We could play some more cards if you like." She asked slyly.

Sara fought hard not to wince. Whoever had thought to teach Cassie holographic card games had probably never imagined her having _eight_ limbs to play said games with. Even with four large legs for locomotion, she had four more to do small things. She was downright scary when she shuffled cards and Sara knew that the girl had no chance against the mechanical form at cards even with her mental training. Right now, she had even less chance physically and that rankled just as badly. Lis was still unconscious, so… Sara was stuck.

"I might be crazy, I am not stupid." Sara retorted, but she was smiling when she did. "I am still sure you double dealt that last hand."

"Who me?" Cassie asked, artful innocence in her tone.

"Yes." Sara snapped, but her ire was fake and both knew it. She smiled at the spider. "May I look at your systems again? As odd as your body is, it is fairly well constructed. Brianna is likely to be a while."

"It always takes John a while to calm her down. Last time it took him a day." Cassie sounded sick, but turned so that Sara could access a port on the side of her spider form's hull. "She is rather stressed about this."

"I can't really blame her." Sara said mildly as her power eased up into Cassie's form. Cassie stifled a giggle at the feedback she felt and Sara shook her head. Whoever had built this form had either been a genius or a certified wacko. Maybe both to make such sensations feel like _tickling_. After a moment she shook her head. "I have looked over every one of your systems that have com devices built in. I cannot find any control systems."

"There has to be something!" Cassie said with a sigh. "The Clergy would not have just let me go! They had to take precautions. They were just as horrified by this as my daughter was. As _I_ was when I woke up this way. Anyo has a lot to answer for."

"No joke." Sara recalled her power and sank back into the bed. "I know that not all Corpus are evil, but it seems that all I see are that kind." Cassie made a noise of commiseration as she turned her form to look at Sara. "I found the trackers that you and Brianna discovered and disabled. No more. No hidden areas in your chassis. I am not a software specialist. You would need a Cyberlancer to check that to be totally sure."

"One did." Cassie said sourly and Sara stared at her. "Scary guy in an Ash warframe came in. He ran red energy code over me and left without a word."

"If he had found a problem, he would not have left." Sara sighed deeply and lay back. As uncomfortable as she was, the _bed_ was comfortable. "I guess I should sleep some more."

"Rest rarely does harm." Cassie had a smile in her voice that faded as Sara looked to the side of the room. At the tank that sat against the wall. "She is healing, Sara. It will take some time, but she will heal."

"Lis is always getting hurt around me. By me, for me." Sara said sadly. "I know she feels it is her duty, but… I love her and she loves me. She gave up _everything_ for me."

"She loves you, Sara." Cassie said with a sigh. "That is part of what love is. You are bound to her and she to you. No money can buy that. No-" She went totally still as a blue light flashed in the room and suddenly a dozen forms in Corpus attire stood with weapons aimed at the pair. Somehow, Cassie was over top of Sara as the room seemed filled to bursting. "_NO!_"

No one moved as Cassie crouched over Sara. Then one of the soldiers laid something on the pod that Lis slept in. Sara's heart seemed to stop as it started to beep. It took no imagination to know it was a bomb of some kind.

"Say what you will about me, I do know how to read records. That one is too dangerous to let free." Anyo's voice preceded the madman's hologram into view on a wall screen. Sara glared at him but did not speak. When he spoke again, it was sad? "There was no need for this."

"_Really?_" Cassie demanded. Sara had to admire her spunk, if not her good sense. A dozen weapons were aimed at her and she seemed resigned? Ready to die maybe.

"There wasn't." Anyo replied as his men stayed where they were. "I freely admit that I have made mistakes. The Void calls me, but I am its servant, not its master. I am as flawed as you were before your exaltation, Medic Cassandra."

"Is _that_ what you call this?" Cassie demanded angrily. "This _horror!_" Her whole body was still but then it jerked as one of the soldiers aimed something at her. "No!"

"Did you really think I would build something that could be used against me so... easily.." Anyo trailed off as Sara laid both of her hands on Cassie's armored hull and the signal that the soldier had been transmitting was jammed. His eyes widened as Sara's power found the small, camouflaged device that was trying to take control of Cassie and fried it effortlessly. He slowly nodded as Sara sank back on the bed and Cassie resumed her pose of warding. "You are far more than you seem, Sara of Amelia's Voices. No wonder they protected you."

"You have no idea." Sara said very softly but more than one of the soldiers in the room shifted nervously at the cold, hard malice in her voice.

"I do have some idea, actually." For once, Anyo seemed totally serious. "The Clergy have declared open war against my holdings. They cannot win, not in the long term, but the do not care. The devastation they will wreak will be considerable."

"You cannot kill what you cannot find!" Cassie snarled. "And if you are stupid enough to go after any of the breeding colonies again, you will face the wrath if _every single _Corpus executive. Even your Void cannot help you against _that_."

"The Void helps those who help themselves." Anyo replied, his voice turning serene again. "Girl, what do you want?" Sara shook her head and kept her mouth shut. "I am not unreasonable. I erred and I need to try to keep this from getting any worse." Anyo said heavily. "This conflict must end and I will give the Reverend Mother something that even she can accept as a proper penance for my transgression. I need you to get it for me and you will be rewarded for that service." Cassie's snort matched Sara's. Neither of them felt the need to comment. "Come now, girl. I am not trying to hurt you." Anyo said with a frown. "I was not trying to hurt you. I was trying very hard _not_ to." Sara just looked at him and he sighed. "What do you want? I know it will not be anything cheap. I know simple credits cannot suffice for the pain you have suffered. I did reread the files I was given and I did err. I thought you would be leverage and you were not to be touched." He hook his head. "My mistake."

"You don't _say!_" Cassie snapped.

"I am talking to her, not you!" The hologram snapped back. Two soldiers aimed at her with Flux Rifles, but all stilled as Sara sat up, coiled herself slowly, carefully and then spoke.

"If any of your men open fire, I will throw myself at them and they will be forced to kill me." Sara said very quietly and everyone froze. "You know will happen then." Anyo actually licked his lips! "You know what she will do."

"The Reverend Mother has gone crazy!" Anyo all but spat those words out. "She is destroying everything I had publicly revealed. Everything!"

"She is _angry!_" Cassie corrected him. "You threatened and then nearly _killed _one of her loved ones. That was _after_ you violated the Corpus' oldest law! The breeding colonies are _not_ to be touched! I may be the lowest of the low, barely human scum to be stepped on at your leisure, but even _I_ know not to anger _them!_"

"I _didn't!_" Anyo declared.

"You gave the orders." Sara replied. "As your people keep spouting, you get to reap the rewards of what you sowed. You _are_." She shook her head. "I will not help you."

"You do not have a choice. If this continues, then all we have set in motion is in danger and the Void has commanded." Anyo said with a snarl. "I will not fail the Void." He shook his head. "That said, I am not unreasonable. You want something. Everyone does. I can give you what you want."

"No, you can't." Sara declared as three of the soldiers slung their rifles and drew odd pistols. They looked kind of like Acrid dart throwers. Sort of. Some kind of tranquilizers probably. Cassie growled something that sounded vile as she tensed herself to fight. Sara was slowly tensing as well. Hand to hand against all of these? She had no chance, but she did not care now. She had lost too much. She was about to lose Lis and she did not care! She was furious!

"Come on, girl!" Anyo demanded. "What do you _want?_" No one was expecting her to charge the man beside Lis' pod, screaming.

"_I WANT MY MOTHERS BACK, YOU SON OF A BITCH!_"

Then it was all pain and fury.

The troops were good but they had several serious handicaps. First of all, none of them wanted Sara dead. She was unarmed and hurt, but she was half Tenno and had been trained _by_ Tenno. She was fast, smart and far stronger than she looked. She was also not nearly as hurt as she had been. Cassie was a wizard with medical tech. Second, Cassie. The medic was clearly not a fighter type. She was not using her chassis like a dedicated combat form would have, she focused on protecting Sara. The girl was unarmored, which should have made the fight short, but Cassie's hull was heavily armored and she moved to shield Sara as the girl took the fight to the enemy. Third? Sara knew Corpus. She know their strengths. She knew their weaknesses and she knew how to fight _dirty_.

"No! Don't!" Anyo blustered from his hologram as Sara tore into the suddenly disorganized soldiers. They had no idea what to do when she slid up between two of them, kicked one into another and spun a third so that his Supra was aimed at the group before hitting it just right. Supra machine guns were decent pieces of tech, but had a few notable flaws. They were heavy, took a long time to reload new power packs and had no external safety. With the right knowledge, which Sara _had_, the weapon could be made to go off without the wielder's consent. Which this one did. A burst of high energy bolts tore from it to slam into several of the other soldiers. All of them had the best defenses Anyo would provide his goons, so none went down, but still, that had to be a shock!

Sara never stopped moving. This kind of fight could only end with her dead or disabled, but she didn't care. For the first time in a long, long time, Sara, formerly Sara Priosa, could finally let the rage that lurked within her loose and she ripped into the suddenly disorganized Corpus goons like a human shaped buzz saw. She could not actually hurt them, but hitting them felt _good_. She had so much rage at the Corpus after what had happened to her, to her mother, to Serene, to Lis…

"Stop!" A new voice, a monotone sounded and Sara spun to see an oddly shaped form standing beside Liss' pod. It held a Spectra pistol aimed at the pod. Was that a human? No. It looked sort of human, but sort of not. More mechanical than human, but the face… Then the face clicked and Sara's rage was kindled anew. Fanned even _hotter_.

"Maxwell D-90." Sara's almost _jovial_ tone stilled everything in the room. "Oh, I so _hoped_ to meet _you_ someday!" Every single being in the room froze as Sara's body was suddenly glowing with raw, unleashed _power_.

"Sara!" Cassie said weakly from where she lay, two of her legs broken. "Sara! No!"

But Sara was beyond reason. _Far_ beyond.

"_DIE YOU DICKLESS PIECE OF SHIT!_"

Everyone recoiled anew as Sara's form shimmered into a bolt of white energy that flew across the room at the speed of thought. It slammed into the standing mechanical being. He screamed as her power sank into him. He screamed again and again as her power flared brighter and brighter around him, but then it faded. The mechanical form fell to lie still, but Sara appeared over top of him, her fists flashing down again and again in trained patterns, beating the man she hated more than anything else in the solar system into paste. _The man who had hurt Lis!_ He was utterly still under her fists. Nothing alive was so still and she did not care! She kept hitting him. His body, what was flesh was broken and bleeding and she kept hitting him. Her own fists were broken and bleeding, but she kept hitting him! Hands tried to grab her and her power flared again, driving them back. Her rage giving her far more power than anyone should have. She couldn't control it. She knew that. She as going to die. She knew that. She didn't care. She had been pushed into this, manipulated and she didn't _care_.

"You idiot!" Brianna's voice was hushed as Sara slammed the face under her with both fists yet again and then stopped, her energy fading. Everything was fading. She was fading. "What have you _done?_"

"I cannot give your mother back to you, girl." Anyo said softly. "But I _can_ give you vengeance against those who hurt you and your loved ones."

"Anyo! Stop! You don't understand! Sara!" Brianna hissed as something tried to touch Sara and the kindly Executor was pushed back. "Don't listen to him!"

"She cannot control herself. She needs someone to help her. To control her." Anyo said flatly. "You will do it. Now."

Sara looked up at the scene. John stood by the door, his Prova in hand and a look on his face that promised death. Every single Corpus soldier in the room was either staggering, bleeding or burned. Some all three. Cassie lay by the bed, sobbing and speaking Sara's name softly. Fear or grief? Hard to say. Sara stared at at Brianna's strained golden face and slowly shook her head as she rose.

"She can't." Sara focused herself and her power faded for a moment. It wouldn't last. Once the gates were opened, they would not shut again."There are some things that even _you_ cannot buy, bribe or steal, Nef Anyo." She smiled a bit as she stared at the very dead man at her feet. "Thank you though. That _did_ feel good."

"Do you have any idea what getting him here cost me?" Anyo demanded. He stilled as she laughed and her form seemed to phase with her insane laughter.

"Not nearly as much as what you have done here will cost you in the long run." Sara replied, almost offhand as she focused herself and her form solidified. She reached out a hand to Brianna who took it hesitantly. "You cannot take control of me now, Brianna and that is good. I am about to die and that is also good. Don't let Lis suicide, please?"

"You are not going to die, girl!" Anyo snarled as John took a step and all of the men in front of him retreated one. "Not until I say."

"Yes, yes, your Void says you have powers and your Void must be right because _you_ are a moron." Sara shrugged as Anyo's jaw dropped. "I am sure the man with the soul catcher thinks he can use it on me. But um… I don't think it will work now." Her eyes flashed and one of Anyo's goons screamed as his belt exploded! He fell to lie still. All fo the soldiers, even _John_, took a step back as Sara's eyes turned ice cold. Furious Technican plus unleashed power equaled 'Ouch'. "Seeing as how it just blew up."

"How did you do that?" Anyo demanded. "You are no Tenno."

"No." Sara sank to the floor and Briana sat in front of her, the Orokin's eyes glistening. "I have no idea what I am. Not human. Not Tenno. Something in between. Something people like you with more _money_ than _brains_ made, hurt and then threw away. Someone who lost everything and can finally rest. I am so tired."

"Sara." Brianna's voice was subdued, beaten almost. "I can help."

"And what will it do to _you, _Brianna_?_" Sara asked, her tone kind. She reached out to hug the Executor who was suddenly crying. "To do what he asks? Whatever he asks will be wrong, evil and cause far more suffering than _I_ could ever live with." The glare she turned on the holographic executive should have rendered him down to ash on the spot. "_I_ am not Corpus. I have a soul and it will never serve you."

"That is not what I am asking." For once, Anyo seemed almost rational. Scary that. "What I am asking is that I serve _you._"

"As your _Void?_" Sara demanded. "I am _not_ your Void! I may be energy, but my energy has become unstable. It is about to destabilize! You cannot stop that. Even Brianna Executor cannot stop that! And even if you could? You cannot expect me to believe that you would serve me as I am."

"No." Anyo heaved an almost believable sigh. "I offer you the Crown of Orokin. I know where it is. I would serve you if you took up the role of Empress of Orokin."


	16. Chapter 16

**Royally screwed**

"Empress."

"You cannot be _serious!_" Brianna hissed as Sara slowly shook her head. The girl wasn't angry now. If anything? She was tired. "She is not Royal!" Brianna froze and her jaw fell open. "No." She breathed. "He _didn't_."

Lorinos Orokin had remade Brianna into a high caste Orokin. Who was to say he couldn't remake Sara into a genetic copy of a member of the Royal Family? Well, everyone with any _brains_ would say that was a bad idea. It was possible if evil and more than a bit heretical to any right thinking Orokin like Brianna. If he had taken DNA from a member of the Royal Family…? Oh dear.

"I can save her!" Anyo said sharply. "I can!" He declared as Sara scoffed at him.

"No." Sara replied, her tone listless now that she was spent. "You can't. Perhaps Lorinos' evil could remake me as he remade Brianna, but it won't work. Even if I survived such, which is not even remotely guaranteed, I am not a member of the Royal Family. I could not take the Crown even if I was silly enough to believe your lies." She shook her head. "And even if I _did_ believe you had a clue what you were talking about? For you? I _would not_." _That_ was ice cold.

"It is not for me!" Anyo snarled. "Humanity needs a leader! The Corpus are divided! Everyone is! We need a leader! _You_ can be that leader!"

"Orokin had their chance." Sara said as she bowed her head. "They blew it. They threw it away in the need for power."

"That they did." Brianna said sadly. "Not all were as clueless or evil as Lorinos turned out to be, but far too many were. Sara, please?" She begged. "Don't go?"

"As soon as I recognized the one who hurt Lis, it was only going to end one way, Brianna. I am sorry I made a mess in your quarters." Sara hugged the now sobbing Orokin gently. "Don't cry. I go to join my moms."

"No." Brianna shook her head. "I cannot allow this, Sara. You are a girl on the cusp of adulthood. You are a good woman, a good friend. I cannot allow this." Anyo smiled, but said smile fell as Brianna touched Sara and nothing happened. Brianna stared at her hand and then at Sara who smiled sadly.

"You cannot stop it, Brianna." Sara said quietly. "My energy was bound to my body and I let it loose without constraint. I did things with it loose and it wants release again. I am fighting to control it, but I cannot. It is destabilizing so there is nothing for you to control. I just wish I could hug Lis one last time." She sobbed into Brianna's shoulder. "I didn't get to hug Mom before she died. _Either_ of them!"

"I will give Lis a hug for you and I will try to keep her from following." Brianna reassured the distraught girl. "I… I just... Sara, _please!_" She repeated. "Let me find a way!"

"There isn't one. I am all alone, Brianna and that is how it must remain." Sara said softly. "Lis was kind to me after my Moms died. She tried to be there for me, to guide me, to protect me, but I am not like her. I am not strong. I am not brave. I am not… I am not good enough." She bowed her head.

"You are wrong, Sara." Everything stopped as the pod with Lis opened and the bomb fell off to clang on the floor. Was it glowing golden? No, that had been a trick of the light. Lis rose out of the pod, her face oddly serene. She wasn't wearing anything but some bandages and it _didn't_ _matter_. No one moved as she took three steps to kneel down beside Sara. She pulled the crying girl into her arms and held Sara as the girl fought for control. "Love make us all do stupid things but this isn't stupid." She looked at the corpse on the floor and shook her head. "Putting _him_ in the same room as her _was_." She said to Anyo, her voice snide. "A bit excessive, Sara. But just a little bit."

"I..." Sara was bawling as Lis held her. "Lis!"

"I am not letting you go, girl." Lis said very softly. "I am with you."

"Lis, I can't stay!" Sara begged. "I used too much. It is too strong! I can't control it!"

"I can!" Anyo declared. "I know where the Crown of Orokin is! It can save her!" Everyone in the room stared at him and then Sara slowly shook her head. "I do!" He protested.

"Even if you do know where it is. Even if, by some miracle, picking such raw power up wouldn't _fry_ anyone stupid enough to do so..." Sara said very softly. "I will never help you. You are Corpus. Corpus hurt my mothers. Both of them. You will never be anything but my enemy. I will never help you."

"Never is a very long time, girl." Anyo said with growl. A small, oddly shaped golden thing appeared in the room and Brianna recoiled from it as an odd smell reached Sara's nostrils. But Lis just held the girl and Brianna slowly relaxed when nothing happened. For his part, Anyo seemed shocked. "What?"

"You play with things you do not understand. You will never understand just how badly you have messed up and for that? You will pay, Nef Anyo. Perhaps at my hands, perhaps another's, but you _will_ pay for what you have done here." Lis said quietly as the golden thing morphed and the smell became overpowering, but Brianna did not react to it! Sara stared at Brianna and then at Lis. For her part, the red skinned woman just looked at Anyo who seemed shocked out of speech. "Lorinos Orokin will pay for his crimes for a very long time. You? Part of me almost hoped you would try for the crown yourself. But you are not that brave. You hire your fighting done. Sara..." She hugged the girl again. "This is not the end, girl. I am with you."

"I am losing control, Lis!" Sara begged as her hands phased.

"I know." Lis sighed deeply and looked at Brianna who seemed almost as shocked as Anyo did. "Can you finalize the transfer of contracts now? I think this ship needs to move before any more of his forces get ideas."

"_Don't you dare!_" Nef Anyo shouted but Brianna just nodded and the hologram faded.

The troops in the room stared around wildly but Lis' eyes were cold as John stepped forward, his Prova arcing.

"These cannot be the only ones aboard. Would you mind some backup?" Lis asked the furious Corpus soldier who looked at her. He eyed her state of undress and she shook her head. "Not me. There are a _lot_ of others who he made _very_ angry."

"Brianna needs help." John said softly. "He hurt her, making her do what she did to me."

"I know." Lis smiled at him and hugged Sara as the girl cried. "I might not have been awake, but I _was_ aware. You really care for her." That was not a question. Brianna jerked and opened her mouth, but he beat her to speech.

"She does not believe it, but I felt for her from the moment I saw her sleeping. Before she woke up." John admitted as one of the troops tried to run past him and the Prodman lashed out almost absently, tossing a twitching body to the deck. "I never believed in the old tales of love at first sight until I met her."

"She is a handful." Lis warned and John laughed. An oddly carefree sound from the battered and still very angry soldier. Brianna flushed, but closed her mouth with a click as Sara hugged her and Lis again.

"That she is." The Prodman agreed. "But the best ones always are. Can you get us backup?"

"_Can I?_ You have _no idea _the backup on standby right this moment." Lis said with a growl. "Anyo has apparently decided that enough is enough. He has shown his true forces. He apparently had about _three times_ the number of his listed forces hidden around the system. We do not know why, some sneaky plan he concocted with Lorinos Orokin, probably. The Clergy are regrouping with their allies. But there are others who count Sara a _sister_. Who count Brianna Executor _a friend_. _They_ are very angry. As angry as you are? They are _just_ as angry and for the same reason. Brianna and Sara did not deserve this."

"No, they didn't. I usually work alone, but for this…?" John shrugged. "Sure. I will take backup."

Lis smiled and a golden flash lit the room. When it faded, _five_ forms stood beside the trio of females on the floor. Cassie gasped from where her broken form lay. Two of the newcomers were Tenno in Excalibur Prime warframes. Two more wore an Excalibur Umbra warframe and a regular Excalibur, respectively. The _other_...

"Sara." Eliza fell to her knees beside Sara, reaching for the girl, face desolate. "Oh, Sara!" She was not wearing the crown. She _was_ wearing dark golden armor and a Vectis Prime rifle hung across her back. "You poor girl. Easy. We have you."

"Eliza? Don't! No!" Sara begged as her energy flared yet again. Eliza touched her cheek and Sara stared at the Empress before collapsing in Lis' arms, instantly unconscious. Sara's energy faded, but did not dissipate further.

Eliza rose to face the now terrified Corpus goons in the room. Just her presence was as terrifying if not more so than the four angry warframes. Even the Prodman seemed to wilt under her gaze, but she nodded to him and he relaxed. None of the warframes moved. One Prime held a golden Skana, the other a golden Glaive. The Umbra had his hand on the hilt of an ornate nikana type blade and the last stood ready, his right hand on the hilt of an oddly shaped 2 handed sword. It was curved and its blade was split into two pieces.

"How many, Brianna Executor?" Eliza asked in a cold, dead voice. Brianna stared at her, nonplussed and Eliza shook her head. "How many on this ship are yours?"

"Three hundred and seven. Leave the ones in the cells, please?" Brianna begged as she checked Sara's vitals. "They haven't done anything that I know of! The others… I will mark mine, order them to hide or surrender." Golden power flared from her fingers to seep into the decks and Eliza nodded. Brianna swallowed hard. "Do you _have_ to purge the ship?" She begged.

"Yes. Even its databanks will be drained and formatted. Anyo's people will have seen and heard things that cannot be repeated. Ever. This is not allowed, Brianna Executor." Eliza said with a growl. "Not the least of which because of what the _Reverend Mother_ will do when she finds out about this. I hope to be _far_ away from her when she discovers what the idiot did to Sara here." She toed the corpse of Maxwell D-90 and shook her head. "A just fate. Not nearly as long and painful as he _deserved_, but entirely appropriate." She held up a hand, golden power flashed and Anyo's hologram reappeared again! He didn't seem to be looking at them, he was screaming at someone, but there was no sound. Eliza's voice turned _conversational_. "You just messed up, Nef Anyo."

"Who are you?" Anyo blustered from his holo. "How did you-? What is going on?" He demanded as he took in the scene, the four Excalibur clad Tenno, the furious Prodman and _Eliza_ standing in the middle of it all. To all appearances, calmly.

"There are certain things that you will not do." Eliza said very softly. "The Crown is out of your reach."

"It is in a place called Avalon!" Anyo said sourly. "I can get it!" Brianna stiffened, but Eliza might have been carved from ice.

"_**Knowing**__ where it is_ and _**doing**__ anything __about it_ are two completely different things, Nef Anyo." Eliza said softly as she laid a hand on the misshapen golden thing that was still emitting the smell and it _melted! _The goo it became vaporized and the smell faded. The Corpus' mouth fell open as Eliza folded her arms in front of her chest. "Nasty thing. Lorinos was very busy, was he not? He told you about the Crown." Not a question. "He told you what it was, where it was and then...What? He said it was unguarded?" She shook her head. "If so? He lied."

"Whatever guards are there are automated! Nothing could have lived all this time." Anyo said and then stiffened as Eliza laughed. Brianna and Lis matched her scorn. "What?"

"Nothing?" Eliza's tone was silky and soft, but danger lurked very close. "I suggest you pull all of your forces off this ship. Now." Anyo goggled at her and then he laughed, but Eliza was not done. "Or you will _lose_ _everything_ you put on this ship along with the ship." She shrugged as he continued to laugh. "Either way, you will not keep Brianna Executor, Sara, Lis or any of your other prisoners. Surrender this ship and surrender to the Reverend Mother's justice, or face _mine_." His mirth abated as her smile turned very cold. "You _will_ prefer _hers_."

"And who are _you_ to make such a-?" Anyo started and then gasped as Eliza's clothing morphed in a shimmer of power golden energy. One moment, she was clad in golden armor. The next? She wore in a long, sweeping golden gown and a golden crown started glowing on her head! Her rifle stayed where it was.

"My name is Eliza. I bear the burden that you so covet." The Empress of Orokin said as John Prodman and the other Corpus in the room stared at her, awestruck. "And you have made me _angry_." Anyo opened his mouth, but Eliza cut him off and this time, she spoke in a commanding tone. "Nef Anyo, you will do as you always have in your pursuit of your Profit. You will demand what you will of your slaves or whoever listens to your drivel. You will do this in your own, thankfully unique fashion. You may do whatever you wish, but know _**this**_: When you cross _our_ interests, _we_ will respond." The royal 'we' was calm and assured but fury that matched any Tenno's sang just underneath her tone. "_We_ have no interest in your Profit. _We_ have no interest in your wars. _We_ have no interest in _any_ of your silliness. _We_ are as _we_ were always supposed to be. Focused on the survival of humanity. But _this_..." She nodded to where Sara lay. "Understand that _we_ are not happy with what you and Lorinos Orokin have wrought here today. You are hardly the first to covet the crown and _hardly_ the first to use such tactics. My family knows how to respond to such. So, very shortly, _you_ will not be happy. Feel free to spread whatever records you have of this conversation. No one will believe you. _We_ will make sure of that."

The Empress snapped her fingers and golden power flared from them. Anyo's hologram winked out, but a scream came from the other side just before it did. Anyo's voice. Brianna sighed deeply and then rose to one knee, bowing her head to the Empress. John stared at Brianna for a long moment and then took a knee as well, his eyes up and tracking the other Corpus who stared at him and then at the Tenno beside Eliza.

"Whether you run or not, this will only end one way." Lis said as she cradled Sara's still form. Eliza glanced at her and Lis shrugged. "It's the truth."

"Indeed it is." Eliza's gaze swept the room and death followed her eyes. One, two, three of the Corpus goons fell to lie still. Utterly drained of energy and life force. Their bodies vanished as Eliza's power destroyed them utterly. The rest of the Corpus troops bolted, shying away from the Prodman, but he did not react. Eliza sighed deeply as the four warframes chased them out of the room and screams started. She looked at Sara and shook her head. "My way was probably a bit less painful than Tenno steel, but I am not feeling very nice right now."

"Empress..." John started.. "I..."

"Whoever or whatever you were before, now you serve Brianna Executor." Eliza shrugged as he stared at her. "I try to keep up to date on things."

"Me." Cassie said weakly from where she lay. "You tapped my sensors, didn't you?"

"I can't tell you that. Let's just say I am _never_ going to play cards with you." Eliza smiled as Cassie choked and Brianna fought a grin. Said grin faded as the Orokin looked at Sara again, face pensive.

"Empress..." Brianna said weakly. "I wanted to help her. I can't, can I?"

"Anyo's method _might_ work to save her life, Brianna Executor, but Sara _cannot_ become Royal." Eliza said firmly. "She would not accept it. She would fight it and what you endured would kill her in such a case. After all _she_ has endured? She _cannot_ accept such a role. She cannot let herself trust and that is the single most defining part of my role as Empress." Lis nodded, silent. "I _have_ to trust others to do things. I _cannot_ do it all, no matter what I might wish. Appearances to the contrary." She said with a small, sad smile as Brianna eyed her.

"She won't take responsibility for herself." Lis said sadly as she stroked Sara's short hair. "When needed, she steps up, but then she always retreats. She cannot trust herself."

"After so long hurt and abused? Who can blame her?" Eliza looked at Cassie as the robot made soft noise of dismay. "What is it you wish, Medic Cassandra?"

"Empress? I wish to help Brianna." The robot said quietly. "To help Sara. I liked helping people. But now? I am a monster."

"No." Eliza stepped to where the robot lay and laid a hand on her hull. "You did not choose this and you went your own way. While your methods are not always for the faint of heart, everyone I have spoken to is in agreement. Your heart may be mechanical now, but it _is_ in the right place." Cassie's optical sensors swiveled to face her and Eliza shrugged. "I have talked with your daughter. She is special."

"I always thought so." Cassie said weakly. "Even before all this. Even before I knew what she had been and then was remade into. She was _always_ special to me."

"I know. I have daughters myself. We shall speak further of this when lives are not in danger." Eliza patted the metal hull and turned to face the others. "Anyo has other forces converging on this ship. We need to get out of here. Can we?" She asked Brianna who looked at John. The soldier shrugged.

"We have to. I can't leave these people to die or be enslaved again, Empress." Brianna said weakly. "Sara and Lis could escape, but… The others?" John growled something under his breath and Eliza looked amused, but Brianna shook her head. "This ship matches other Corpus ships for speed, but cannot outrun them or hide from them as I thought. I took responsibility for these people, Empress. I _am_ responsible for them." Eliza looked at John who looked like he wanted to protest but then he shook his head and a rueful smile crossed his battered features.

"She is who she is." John said simply. "I stand with her."

"Then you do not stand alone." Eliza said very quietly. "If you do this, there will be no going back. Anyo will kill you if he catches you again."

"He will _try_." John Prodman said with a growl. "He will find someone else to take the title." Brianna stared at him and John shrugged. "Yeah, 'John Prodman' is a title, not my real name."

"And _when_ were you going to tell _me_ this?" Brianna demanded, halfway to angry,

"Soon. Probably after our first kid was born." John replied with considerable aplomb while facing an angry Orokin. "Probably." Eliza was clearly fighting a grin as Brianna sputtered something that was likely foul. Cassie and Lis both chuckled.

"I um..." Brianna shook her head. "That discussion can wait until we can continue it in private." John leered at her and she made a face. "You and your one track mind! As powerful as I am, as good as John is, we need help, Empress. I humbly ask assistance of the Empress for those who cannot defend themselves."

"I want in." John snapped. "I _owe_ that piece of trash!"

"You will get your fill of battle today, soldier." Eliza said softly. "There are _five_ large Corpus ships approaching this one with attendant vessels." Brianna paled, but Eliza wasn't done. "You do not stand alone. Nor does Sara."

Suddenly, two holograms appeared in the room, standing near Eliza who nodded to them. The Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy's face was stricken as she stared at Sara, but the holographic kavat that stood beside her seemed calm. Well, except for the _claws_ that were _unsheathed _and shimmered with fell energy. The Queen of Cats was about as happy as everyone else was. _Not at all!_

"'Cry havoc'." Eliza said softly but firmly and both of the holograms nodded. They all turned when an unexpected voice spoke up.

"'And let slip the dogs of war'?" John asked, incredulous and smiled as Eliza looked at him. "Hey, I can read." She smiled back.

"Let slip the dogs of war." The Clergywoman said, her face hardening.

_Let slip...the _**cats**_ of war!_ Liriel said with a sour laugh and everyone chuckled.

"Hey!" Eliza said sharply, but with a wide smile. "Let's not go too nuts here. We want the solar system at least _reasonably_ _intact_ after this!" Liriel shared her smile but both monarchs' mirth had a feral edge.

_No promises._


	17. Chapter 17

**Wars**

Corpus were many things. They were focused as only the truly brainwashed could be on their Profit. For them, the gaining and hoarding of wealth was literally their be all and end all. Any means to do so that did not violate their Company guidelines was fair game and even those could be bent or broken as long as the reward out stripped the risk. This had cost many people many, many times over the years since the founding of the organization. They were human, with all of the frailties and insane adaptability that humans had repeatedly shown throughout their recorded history. They focused on tech instead of brute force, preferring to put proxies into battle which were easily replaced, if not always cheaply. Humans simply could not match many of the threats out in the wilds of space without extensive augmentation that got downright expensive. Even the weakest of Grineer was stronger than a baseline human and the _less_ said about Infestation the better! Let alone Tenno who often outmatched entire _armies_ all by themselves. Corpus were not generally stupid. They were driven by their faith. Bound by their guidelines and their orders from their superiors. Constrained in ways that made little sense to outsiders, but not usually stupid.

Which was why when Tenno strike craft approached the five large Corpus ships that were closing on the recalcitrant vessel that Nef Anyo claimed, _all_ were suddenly wreathed in bright blue fields of energy that flashed golden as well. The Tenno sheared away from the high power Nullifier fields that would cancel their abilities and potentially damage their energy forms. Their ships were barely detectable at all to even the best of Corpus sensors. No Corpus automated targeting systems had a chance of tracking them, let alone _hitting_ them, so no Corpus even bothered to try. They had learned it was a waste of time and energy. Energy that they needed to keep the Nullifier fields up and keep the Tenno from boarding the and slaughtering them all inside their ships. They had adapted.

Unfortunately for the Corpus, they were _not_ the only adaptable ones.

* * *

A Scimitar landing craft

"Where are those Nullifier fields coming from?" Tiana demanded as her clan net lit up with snarls of rage. Then the shared network she had set up for this operation also lit up. _Everyone_ was angry. "Corpus reactors are not that powerful! They cannot be maintaining such shields for entire ships!"

"How much do you want to bet Lorinos sold Anyo something?" Cathi Gata might have been carved from ice, but from how the Cerata in her hand glistened with fell power as it spun in her hand? She was _just_ as angry. Her Gersemi Valkyr warframe all but quivered with readiness to do harm. "Some kind of Orokin enhancement for their power systems?"

"No bet." Tiana snapped right back. "Those fleets that he had hidden. Anyo had to have paid for them somehow and no one saw any additional revenue come in according to the Reverend Mother. So, he was given funds or resources for them in secret. Most of the ships are moving to Venus, to shore up the defenses there, but other places..." She shook her head, the huge golden headdress of her Nyx Prime warframe swinging wide. "I think he was planning a coup. We have to do something!"

"Right." Cathi Gata sighed and her Cerata vanished. "I will take a team EVA. We will get into the hull, try and hit the reactor of the closest." Tiana felt her guts freeze despite her warframe and Cathi Gata nodded. "I know."

"If you go down inside a Nullifier field, we may not be able to get you back!" Tiana was trying hard to be objective, but it was hard. Cathi Gata was a good soul. "Your energy may dissipate before anyone can get to you."

"Tenno do what is needed." Cathi Gata said softly as she turned to the ship's airlock. Ric, the clan's technician move to join her along with Ming, one of the Clan's heavy hitters. "Not what is _safe_." The Frost Prime that had accompanied them started forward as well, but Cathi Gata shook her head. "Olim. No."

"I am not letting you fly in there alone, sister." Olim's tone brooked no argument and everyone stepped back as Cathi Gata moved to block his path to the airlock.

"Everyone is angry, Olim." Cathi Gata said with a growl. "Everyone. We have cause, but that is no excuse for you acting this way. You are needed, Grandmaster of Cyberlancers! Do not-" She broke off as he laid a hand on her arm.

"You misunderstand." Olim stepped back, his posture almost sad. "I know I cannot fly in there beside you, no matter what I might wish. You are not going in alone. We need more teams to handle five ships and this is not a purely Tenno matter. Not now." Cathi Gata stared at him as he turned to Tiana. "We have made grievous mistakes recently, Warlord. I have been trying to understand where I went wrong. Where _we_ went wrong. I do not understand it all even now, but casting Karen out was a _mistake! _If I had been aware when you did it, I would have stopped you!" Everything stilled at the rage that sounded in his tone.

"You were hurt." Tiana stood her ground gamely. 'Angry Cyberlancer' was never a good thing. Angry Cyberlancer in arm's reach? That could get very painful. "You and Quais were _both_ down. Aeron took three _days_ to heal and _she_ was responsible! What was I supposed to do? Reward her? You needed time to recover. All of you! She wouldn't explain!"

"She couldn't talk about it!" Olim was calm now, but fury still sang. "You know part of why."

"I do. Now." Tiana shook her head. "Olim, I messed up and I cannot find her to fix my mistake. I am not perfect. Olim. I have never claimed to be." Cathi Gata stared from the Warlord to the Cyberlancer and back.

"We need to stop those ships before they get to Sara." The Valkyr clad Tenno said with a sigh. "This is bad and needs to be addressed. But… Is this germane right now?"

"Yes." Olim turned back to her and nodded. "You are _not_ going in alone." Before she could respond, his code swirled about him and he spoke into empty air. Or was that _singing?_ "Baa, baa, black sheep. Have you any wool?"

Another voice came from his code! A familiar one!

"Yes, sir, yes sir, three bags full." _That_ was also singing and it was _Karen's_ voice! Mocking, but not. Then she spoke, clipped and professional. "In position. Ready to deploy on your orders. Over."

"What the hell is going on?" Tiana asked into the stunned silence that fell.

"We need to fix whatever of this we can, Warlord Tiana." Olim said with a growl. "I contacted Lynn as soon as I woke up and was briefed." All of the other Tenno in the craft stilled and he shook his head. "I am still a member of this clan, but frankly? I am _ashamed_ to be right now and Quais shares my feelings. I know the two of us are not alone." Cathi Gata bowed her head, Ric and Tiana likewise. "What I did, what Aeron did, what we were _ordered_ to do… It was _wrong_. We are supposed to follow our hearts, not just our orders. No wonder Rachel is so mad. No wonder _Nikis_ is so aloof. _He_ is just as ashamed as _we_ are!"

"Black Sheep Lead, standing by. Over." Karen's words came from Olim's code. Had she heard any of that? Tiana was shaking her head and Olim spoke again.

"Black Sheep Lead, this is Cyberlancer Six." The Cyberlancer said firmly. "Orokin enhanced Nullifier fields detected on all five primary targets. Primary assault is a no-go. Repeat, primary assault is a no-go. Over."

"Roger that, Cyberlancer Six." Karen's voice turned hard. "Black Sheep Lead is ready to deploy. Over."

"Black Sheep Lead, this is Cyberlancer Six. You are 'go' for Option Four. Time to go loud." Olim had a grim smile in his voice now as Tiana stared at him. "Over."

"Cyberlancer Six, Black Sheep Lead. Semper Fi! You _might_ want to get out of the _way_. Over."

"WHAT THE FU-!"

More than one person exclaimed as the space in front and around the Tenno assault craft suddenly became crowded! At least six dark blue ships, each far larger than any Tenno landing craft suddenly phased into being around the area. The Corpus could clearly see them because energy fire came from the closest Corpus battlewagon. Their aim was true, and the plasma fire hit one of the newcomers. It hit shields that flared golden and did _nothing _more to the newcomer. Each ship was distinctly unique, but all shared the same basic profile. Engines in the rear. Sweeping curves proclaimed Tenno origin and the long vanes that extended both above and below the spindly looking hull spoke of great power. But the weapons that were mounted all over all of them were not Tenno designs. Were they?

"Um..." Tiana swallowed hard as all of the ships, just over half a dozen of them, lit their drives and burned towards the Corpus fleet.

"We are poor little lambs, who have lost our way. Baa, baa, baa." Olim sang under his breath. Space lit up as the Corpus realized their peril and now? Smaller ships were launching from the larger ones. The Scimitar's onboard systems scanned them and came up with nothing. New designs. Clearly Anyo and Lorinos had been _very_ busy. The Cyberlancer gave himself a shake. "They will need cover. Long range Corpus fire won't do anything, but if fighters get close, they can pick the Railjacks to pieces. Or knock the shields down and let the scum board. Do we leave them to fight _alone_, Warlord?" He demanded.

"Not _today_. The Black Sheep do _not_ fight alone!" A _new_ voice sounded from Olim's code and every one stilled anew as a night black ship shimmered into view a bit away from the group, lit its thrusters and boosted towards the fight. Everyone jerked as a small winged form shot from its underside then took up formation beside it. A Zephyr warframe in an Itzal archwing. Then the battlecry as they charged the Corpus beside the Railjacks. "_Diamondbacks forever!_"

"Mitchell, NightNova and Li." Tiana shook her head. She bowed her head and when she raised it, her voice sounded close to tears. "Cathi Gata, my kin… Follow your hearts." Cathi Gata reached out to the Warlord, gave her a hug and then ran for the airlock.

"Don't hug me!" Ric begged as he stepped into place to deploy. Ming was just shaking his head as he too joined the deploying group. Then they were gone, to fight and slay as Tenno always had and would.

"I can't go no matter how I want to." Tiana said sadly. "I am needed to coordinate. I won't go unless things get too bad." Olim nodded. "But… _Black Sheep?_" She asked. "What does that mean?"

"Sheep were ancient animals bred for their fur. It was called 'wool'." Olim said quietly. "They were almost always white. When one was born with black fur, it was ostracized from the herd. Cast out for being different." Tiana recoiled and Olim nodded. "Which is what you did."

"She joined them, aided them against Rachel." Tiana said weakly. "Betrayed the clan. Betrayed the First! Fought beside the Grineer!"

"I have fought beside Grineer. So have you. Aeron _shot_ her for trying to help a lost soul when no one else would listen." Olim retorted. "What would _you_ have done?"

"I don't know." Tiana admitted. "Maybe the same, maybe something different, I don't know."

"When Jac sees you again, she is going to _hurt_ you." Olim warned and Tiana nodded. "She hit Aeron so hard, she put him in Medical. I _doubt_ she will do less to you."

"I um… I will let her." Tiana agreed. "But..._ Black Sheep_?" She shook her head. "How is_ Karen_ on a ship and in _command_?"

"Never underestimate an angry Empress." Olim actually shuddered a little. "Karen was given command of a prototype spacecraft codenamed 'Railjack' and she came up with the idea of a Marine Corps squadron of such. The Empress okay-ed it and Karen ran with it. Lynn and I _both_ support her." _That_ was pure warning and Tiana nodded acceptance. "As for the name? An ancient human war had a group of Marine aviators who called themselves 'The Black Sheep'." He shook his head. "The history is unclear, but what is clear is that they were damn good at what they did. So was their _commander_. Hence why Karen calls her Railjack 'The Boyington'. She has been itching to try it out and the Corpus just gave her cause."

"Can we stop them?" Tiana asked as Olim turned to face the screens, his code flashing in ways no normal being could perceive.

"We have to." Olim replied. "If we don't keep them away from that ship, you know what will happen. What _Sara_ will do."

"I..." Tiana bowed her head. "Yes. I do. It isn't her fault, Olim. None of them! Not Sara! Not Lis! Not Brianna! No one but Lorinos and Nef Anyo are to blame."

"Brianna will blame herself if she figures it out again." Olim said sadly. "But it isn't her fault. Lorinos' evil was pervasive. It touched so many, warped so many. It is a miracle that Amelia Priosa survived as sane as she did. That she managed to save Sara despite it all."

"Yeah." Tiana sighed deeply and then moved to kneel at the navigation interface. "I can't order this, Olim. I can't _order_ our people to kill Sara!." Tiana said sadly. "As bad as many things I have done? This is worse. She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"I know." Olim moved to kneel beside her. "But if she falls and we don't kill her, Nikis will have no choice but to act. We may be able to save Sara, but if so? We cannot save Lis." He said heavily. "You saw the report the same as I did."

"Sara won't accept that." Tiana actually shuddered as the battle ahead of them grew bright with fire traveling in both direction. The Corpus could see the newly come ships, but they could not seem to hurt them. In comparison? When the 'Railjacks', whatever that meant, fired their weapons, things blew up. "You know as well as I do, Olim. Sara will not sacrifice Lis and Lis will not sacrifice her. Can the Reverend Mother talk to her? Them?"

"The Reverend Mother is busy trying to keep a lid on things." Olim replied, his entire posture dejected. "The Empress just blew her cover in a big way and the Clergy are scrambling to try and limit the damage."

"I do not understand why she did that!" Tiana said sourly. "Eliza was covered! She was hidden! Even if he _did_ send agents after the Crown, managed to get them to _Avalon_ of all places, they had no chance. Anyone dumb enough to pick it up gets fried." Olim just looked at her and she slumped. "Which is why he had Sara adjusted all those years ago, just after she was decanted. Orokin AIs do not harm innocents if they can help it. She was hurt and clueless. A true innocent."

"A true innocent who was clandestinely adjusted by Brianna." Olim said very softly. "I pray Brianna does not remember that. Seeing what lay within those labs nearly drove her mad again. What Lorinos did to her, what she did at his orders..." He shook his head. "Small wonder she lost her mind for a time. It was a miracle that she recovered at all."

"A miracle named Amelia. And then Lorinos sent her _back_ to that nutcase Daniel just in time to run into _Will_." Tiana sighed deeply and focused herself as calls for support started coming in. "I will coordinate with our people, try to cover these Railjack things." She shook her head. "For whatever good it will do. The information about Eliza _has_ to have been passed out amongst the entire Corpus by now that _someone_ is running around with the Crown of Orokin. That was _dumb_, Olim!"

"Was it?" Olim asked. "He was going to try for Avalon. Now he has to try and find _one woman_ in the _entire_ Solar System." He scoffed a little. "Admittedly, she is memorable, but still… _One_ woman with _insanely_ good tech. Far better than any Corpus or even one of _us_ can boast. Without the Clergy's aid, which he is _certainly_ not going to _get_ now, what are the odds he can find _one woman_ if she runs and hides?"

"One woman who likely will not return to Avalon since she knows he is hunting her now." Tiana shook her head. "So, since he knows that and she knows that he knows that… She can go back. Maybe. That is _seriously_ twisty." She complained.

"This is the _Empress_ we are talking about." Olim said with a grunt as he focused on his code. "Remember what she did to her own _mother?_ She learned sneakiness from the absolute best. She has a plan." He shook his head as one of the Railjacks took a series of hard hits and went spinning away form the battle, several Corpus squadrons pursuing the damaged craft, but at least five tiny forms in Archwings were in pursuit. Half of the Corpus blew up and the other half were fighting for their lives as the damaged Railjack withdrew.. "Now we just see if we can implement said plan."

"And if Sara can survive it." Tiana said heavily.

"That too, yes."

* * *

Brianna's ship

Lis sighed as she held Sara. Cassie was scanning the girl and then her scanner swept over Lis. The sudden lack of moment from the spider had the Tenno nodding. The spider's chassis had self repaired a little, just enough for locomotion and she had moved to try and help Sara.

"I know." Lis said flatly. "So does Sara." She looked at Eliza who knelt beside Brianna. Eliza bowed her head as the Orokin looked confused. The Empress had shifted back into her less ostentatious outfit and her crown had vansihed but her rifle was in hand.

"What is going on?" Brianna asked, fear rising. John had left to find something to hit. No one with any brains was going to try and attack anyone in this room, not with _Eliza_ in here.

"Um..." Cassie sounded one step from terror and Lis reached out to the damaged spider and patted its hull gently.

"It is all right, Medic Cassandra. I will not hurt you. I have a little time." Lis said with a sad smile. "It is no one's fault but Anyo and Lorinos. It is what it is. Maybe you can save Sara but she will demand to try and save me. She can't."

"What is wrong?" Brianna started to rise, but Eliza held her down easily. "Empress!"

"Stay where you are, Brianna Executor." Eliza commanded. "You are in no danger at this moment. I want to keep it that way if I can." Brianna stared at Eliza and then at Lis, her eyes widening.

"You should not have been able to get out of the pod. You _cannot_ be healed yet." Brianna said slowly. Lis nodded. "Um… How?"

"Sara needed me." Lis replied, off hand. Cassie made noise of fear and Lis shook her head. "You are in no danger from me, Medic Cassandra. None."

"What did you scan, Cassie?" Brianna demanded, not trying to shake off the Empress' hands.

"Um… Brianna?" Cassie said with a gulp. "The body that is holding Sara has no heartbeat or brainwave activity." Brianna went totally still. "She is dead. And _talking!_"

Tenno energy could do things that humans could not, but still. That stretched limits that were not supposed to be stretched. Limits enforced by very scary people, including one who wore a black Nekros warframe!

"You..." Brianna licked her lips as she stared at the Empress who nodded. "I wanted to help!" She pleaded.

"You did." Lis reassured her. "I was hurt too badly for even my body to recover from. The readings you saw were faked, I cannot say by who. Sara needed more help than you could provide. She was about to lose it, lose control completely. Small wonder after all of this. Maybe you and the Empress can help her, maybe not. But if she had lost it? You would not have had anything to _save_."

"If you are energy… in a _dead body_..." Brianna was slow and hesitant, taking care between each word. "That is forbidden, isn't it?" She asked the Empress who sighed and nodded.

"The rules for energy forms have been bent so far out of alignment by what Lorinos did that it is hard to say for sure what is _in_ them and what is _out_ of them now, but yes, Brianna." Eliza said heavily. "Lis' body is dead and she is refusing to go into the database while Sara is in danger. Loudly."

"And Nikis...is…?" Brianna clearly did not like asking that.

"He is on his way." Lis said mildly. "And he is fairly ticked off that I 'gave him the slip' as he puts it."

"Oh."

"Yeah."


	18. Chapter 18

**Life and not**

"You..." Cassie retreated back to the furthest wall after Lis' confession, her scanners trained on Sara who still slept. "How can you be moving, talking and all while your body is _dead?_"

Lis looked at the Empress who shrugged a little. Eliza was still holding Brianna down. The Orokin mind healer was all but quivering in the need to do something. Anything.

"Medic Cassandra can keep a secret." Eliza was quiet, sad.

"I prefer what Brianna called me when we first met." Cassie said weakly. "I didn't know Cassandra was a prophetess in human myth who was driven mad by visions off the future that no one believed. She said I looked like a 'Cassie' and she was so nice to me even… Even as I am." The spider gave a soft sob.

"Yes, she is." Eliza smiled a bit forlornly. "She always has been, as long as I have known of her." She eyed Lis who shrugged.

"It will probably scare her less coming from you." Lis said with a frown "I don't intend to be frightening, Medic Cassie." She spoke the spider's preferred name with a smile. "I mean you no harm. I came because Sara needed help. No more. She is my daughter and I love her."

"I..." Cassie made a gulping noise. "That I can understand, but this?" She waved a small appendage at Lis. "This I do not understand." She all but begged the Empress. "That body is starting to decay!"

"Sara needed the help." Eliza said heavily. "There is a lot I cannot say. Some that I have no right to say, others you are not cleared for. What I _can_ say is that Tenno are not human. Humans are organic forms that house the energy that make up our minds." Cassie did not move and Eliza continued. "Tenno are energy that inhabit organic forms."

"And this is not the same thing?" Cassie asked.

"You saw what Sara did." Eliza said very quietly. "Could a human do that?"

"Uh, maybe? I have seen many very odd things when I was slave to Nef Anyo." Cassie sounded unsure now. "Things that seemed miraculous or magical."

"Most magicians in history were charlatans or tricksters who used misdirection and illusion to fool the mind into thinking the person had supernatural powers." Eliza's tone was pitched to reassure and Cassie relaxed just a little. Brianna did not. "Not all could be so easily defined. The Orokin took that one step further. Their super advanced technology was almost indistinguishable from magic to the untrained eye. They could literally will something to happen and it often did."

"It is not magic!" Brianna protested faintly. "It is technology!"

"Any sufficiently advanced technology-" Eliza started with smile that became a grin as Cassie and Brianna _both_ groaned in unison. "I see you know the quote." Lis looked decidedly amused.

"_Yes!_" Cassie and Brianna chorused and then shared a strained laugh.

"What does this have to do with Sara?" Cassie asked. "Her body scans as human, but yes, I saw what she did. She is not human, is she?"

"Sara was created using two disparate forms of DNA. One was human, the other _looked_ human." Eliza frowned in thought. "She was created as means to break the will of someone who had discovered a way into an Orokin tower and-"

"Wait!" Cassie actually interrupted the Empress. "Sara? Sara _Priosa_?" Everyone tensed, but Cassie started to cry! "Oh god! _No!_" She bawled. "What have I _done?_"

"I wasn't you!" Brianna turned beseeching eyes to the Empress and Eliza frowned but nodded, letting Brianna rise to walk to where Cassie lay sobbing. She stayed between Brianna and Lis. Brianna all but hugged the spider but her next words had everyone freezing again. "It was me."

"Brianna." Eliza warned, but the Orokin just shook her head.

"The past is past and cannot be changed." Brianna said with a half moan, half growl. "Did you punish me?"

"_Brianna!_" This time, both Lis and Eliza spoke the warning.

"Stop!" Cassie begged as Brianna hugged her tighter. "Whatever you did, you are not who you were. You changed. You said you died."

"I have been trying to ignore it." Brianna did not seem to hear them, she was so sad. "I have been trying to forget it. Ever since I woke up on Avalon and was told the memories had been taken from me, I have been trying to obey your command to move on with my life, Empress!" She all but begged. "But my mind won't let the mystery lie. Whatever was in those rooms I destroyed was so bad that just my reaction scared my entire pack. I did something horrific in there, didn't I?"

"Brianna! No!" Lis was shaking her head as Eliza moved to stand by the now quivering Orokin. "It wasn't you! It was Lorinos and-..." She broke off as Sara opened her mouth. Her eyes were still closed! The girl's voice was tiny, child-like.

"I am ready for my next lesson, Brianna Enginus." Utter silence descended but Sara spoke again. "If I do what your master asks, will I see my mom after? Please? She is so sad."

"Lis!" Eliza warned but Lis' hand glowed and Sara relaxed back into full sleep.

"What did I _do?_" Brianna inhaled, every molecule of her quivering with shock and fear. "I… Sara… _Amelia?_ What did I _do?_"

"You did as you were commanded when Amelia put your mind back together." Eliza said very quietly. "She did not remember that. It was expunged from her memory and yours. What you discovered… I took the memory again. You are not to blame for that. I thought Sara's memory gone as well."

"Sara's mind is a _mess_." Brianna said weakly. "We did what we could. Sara, Amelia and I… We did what we could!" Horror poured from her in waves as Cassie laid a small appendage on the now softly sobbing Orokin's shoulders. "I... I was involved, wasn't I? In what happened to Sara?"

"Brianna Executor, stop." A new voice heralded Nikis entering there room. John Prodman walked in behind him, all but quivering in fury. "The past is past! We gotta deal with the _now._" He shook his head as he looked at Lis. "Silly girl." His tone mixed resignation with a hint of worry. "You know better, Lis. The others are debatin'. You will probably be able to come back since Jane didn't make it."

"Jane?" Brianna said weakly as John stepped to her side, laying a hand on her shoulder. "She didn't revive?"

"She said over and over that she wasn't gonna. She was just gonna let her energy fade and seek oblivion." Nikis said heavily. "After what she gone through? No one blamed her. Least of all me." He shook his head. "But you gotta go, Lis. Staying here ain't good for any. Not Sara, not you."

"If she wakes up and I am not here, Grandmaster..." Lis said heavily. "...you know what she will do." Nikis nodded slowly. "I do offer apology for running off, but Sara was a hairsbreadth from losing it. No one wants that. Not even Anyo or Alad V want that." She made a face. "Not that _either_ of them have a clue."

"Tenno Lis, I got no leeway on this." Nikis said formally. "I got to take you. Your energy is fading. You got to go rest!"

"I have to stay." Lis replied, respectful, but adamant. "If I am not here or someone she loves is not here, then Sara will go crazy after all this." She nodded to where Cassie had covered the body with a sheet. "She went more a bit nuts, both when Anyo tried to bribe her and then when he had Maxwell D-90 threaten me in my pod."

"_Idiot!_" Nikis all but spat that word out, but he did relax a little. "Lis, this ain't good for you. If you dis-incorporate here, you ain't comin' back and Sara will not react well to _that._"

"I know. Love makes us do funny things." Lis said sadly as she stroked Sara's hair. "I nearly killed Karl because I loved him. I accepted enslavement in that tower because Serene needed me and then, she came to love me and I learned to love her. She wanted me to survive. I accepted Sara for who she is, flaws and all, Nikis. Sara is my daughter. I will not leave her to face this alone." She looked at Brianna. "Or Brianna. It was neither of their faults, Nikis. I am within my rights."

"Empress!" Nikis all but groaned as Eliza shook her head.

"I do not like this either, Grandmaster, but she _is_ within her rights." Eliza sighed deeply. "She came to me and asked my aid. I gave it, but with the proviso that we not interfere with your duties." Nikis was eyeing her and she shrugged. "Hey, even _I_ can learn."

"This is _hurting_ her!" Nikis snapped but then slowly subsided as Lis bowed her head. "I don't like this."

"Grandmaster…" Eliza said very softly. "Sara spoke in her sleep. She remembers part of it in some way." Nikis stilled and Eliza nodded. "Hopefully not all, but we need to be ready."

"I ain't shooting her." Nikis declared. "Kid has done nothing but be hurt."

"You think I want to?" Eliza asked, her face stern. "I have loved her since she first came to Avalon, a ball of sadness, fury and fear. With Serene and others, she grew into a fine young woman who no one had any idea would develop powers. I prayed she never would." Brianna stilled and Eliza nodded. "I knew, even then some of what had been done to her. Even as messed up as they are, the surveillance systems still keep track of anyone who speaks of coveting the Crown near any functioning Orokin facilities. He thought he had control of all the systems in the tower. He didn't."

"Were you _watching_… when he…?" Brianna trailed off as Eliza shook her head.

"No." Eliza heaved a sigh of deep regret. "If I had been watching when he changed you, when he changed Abigail and Keiko, I would have _acted_ and _damn_ the consequences." A rage as deep as space itself sang in her tone. "You didn't deserve this, neither did _they_. The many, many feeds go into a dedicated server where they are vetted and then transmitted _to_ Avalon on a daily basis. What he did was not flagged for my immediate attention, so I did not see any of it until after I went looking. I didn't know until a day afterwards. Far too late for you, let alone the others. I _was_ madder than hell. I a_m_ madder than hell, but mainly with myself. Hindsight is always clearer than foresight and I knew he was still around, plotting, but I had no idea he would do what he did."

"You knew he was _killing people_-" Brianna snapped, but Eliza held up a hand and she subsided.

"I did not." Eliza replied, tone ice cold. "_My father_ knew about that and did nothing. I can find no records _at all_, which means he destroyed them." Everyone stilled in horror and Eliza nodded. "I have no idea why. I can guess, but that is all it is, a guess. He left no records of why he let that monster in Orokin form kill so many, _why_ he must have helped _hide_ Lorinos' activities for the Tenno Guardians of the Dead. That is the _only_ reason they wouldn't have found out. If the_ Emperor_ hid it as only the _Emperor_ could have." She nodded to Nikis who stilled. "I have no idea why he aided and abetted such utter insanity! The _only_ thing that makes any sense at all is that my father wanted to give up the Crown. He could not once it was bonded to him. All the legends, myths and fanciful stories about the crown are lies. It does not heal, it does not save, it does nothing but cause harm."

"It is a burden on par with mine." Nikis allowed and gave Eliza a half bow that she returned.

"They are connected." Eliza said firmly. "But you… Grandmaster, he would not have dared involve you. Everyone knew how Guardians dealt with trespass, let alone _your_ methods. The Crown was _our_ burden, our shackle, our shame."

"It was tried." Nikis said softly. "Giving it up was tried."

"Yeah." Eliza slowly shook her head. "And every time, bad things happened."

"_Empress!_" Lis said in shock as Sara's body started to glow golden!

"_Get away from her!_" Eliza and Nikis both snapped, weapons coming to hand as Sara was lofted into the air to settle on her feet. Brianna stared at her hands and then at Sara whose face was oddly serene.

"Oh, Lizza. My dear sweet Lizza." The words that came from Sara's mouth were not her speech. It was a male voice! Old. Calm, but sad, so sad. Eliza paled, but her rifle was steady, aimed at Sara's head. Nikis had his pistols in hand as well. "Of all the people who might have assumed the horrible role, I _hoped_ it would not be you. Of all the people I failed in life? You, I hurt the worst."

"That… You are _not_ my Father!" Eliza snapped, her rifle still steady. "Let. Her. Go!"

"I am also not your _mother_, Lizza." The other in Sara said with a growl of annoyance. "I _asked _Sara's assistance. I did not demand it even though I probably could have. She was barely a day old when I met her first and she was already so brave, so smart, so kind. So like my littlest daughter that I failed so badly. The little brave Lizza that I loved so dearly and hurt so badly when I did not believe her stories about what her mother did to her. You came to me for help and I ignored you." The male voice made a soft, sad noise. "I thought I loved your mother, I trusted her. I truly did. We do odd things for those we love, do we not?"

"Every time she did things to me, she claimed she loved me!" Eliza snapped. Brianna slowly rose to stand beside her, golden energy flaring around her fingers. "The drugs, the degradation, the.. Everything!" She snarled.

"I didn't know the truth until Sun came to me, sat me down and _explained_." The other sounded sick now. "I puked, Lizza. I thought my implants or experience could handle it, but what your mother did… The lives she destroyed so casually… You and the other young kids deserved better. Me and mine, we were lost in the Game. You were not!"

"Grandmaster?" Eliza growled as Nikis stepped forward, one pistol holstered and his free hand wreathed with orange energy. Nikis shook his head. "What?"

"That ain't an energy form." Nikis said flatly. "Anyway, Cathi Gata said she saw his energy destroyed."

"Cathi Gata?" The other inquired and then he made a noise of grief. "Cathi? Oh no. She didn't make that poor Guardswoman _watch_, did she? Ah, damn it, Helena, there were supposed to be _limits!_" _That_ was pure angry Emperor!

"My mother's name is forgotten!" Eliza grated that out, rage in every syllable. "That is the way it will remain!"

"Oh? Good. A just fate for one who wished to be remembered eternally." The male voice sighed. "Sara is not to blame, Lizza. She is doing what I asked and she can. She wished something that I can give and I will give it when she has done what I wished. You will do it. You will release the burden."

"What?" Brianna, Lis, Cassie, John and Nikis all chorused that as Sara glowed brighter.

"She can take it." Sara's body stepped towards Eliza, but everyone else moved to block the way. "Lizza, you can surrender the burden, live out a life of your own. Have children of your own again." The voice was all but begging her. "Lizza, stand down. I can help."

"Like you 'helped' Lorinos?" Eliza demanded tightly. The other did not reply and the Empress continued. "You had to have hidden his horror. If you are my father or even a part of him, then tell me! Why?"

"Expediency. Lorinos was selfish and evil, but he was brilliant in his own way." The voice from Sara said slowly. "He was no worse than many of the high caste and less vicious than some." He made a noise of discomfort. "He bothered me on a number of levels, but no more than many of the high caste did. What he did to so many can never be undone. What he did to Brianna Executor and Kaitlin Executor can never be undone. But Sara? Sara can be saved."

"Why?" Eliza snapped. "Why do this? Why harm a child? Even a child who was _made_ is _still_ a child!"

"While she was in Briana Enginus' lab, I could ease her and I did. Her mother did not understand why she was so calm after so many attempts at brainwashing her." The other replied. "She was and is a good soul, Lizza. I could not harm her, even if I wished to. She asked my aid and I will give it."

"She… asked… you…?" Eliza said slowly and carefully. "And _what_ did you promise her?"

"Her fondest wish." The other replied. "She asked me if I could give her mother back to her and I had to say 'No'. Lorinos tried to copy Amelia Priosa's mind into an energy form but it failed. The girl has lost so much and now? She fears that she will lose the last thing she loves." Sara's head turned to Lis who had stilled. "Tenno Lis, she loves you with all of her heart and fears that she will harm you. She demanded I save you and I will. I will allow no harm to come to you or your energy."

"What are you-" Lis gave a sharp scream as she vanished in a haze of gold!

Nikis was suddenly glowing with orange energy, but Sara's hand came up and a golden pulse of energy flew from it to the Nekros who caught it and stilled.

"Take her and please be gentle. I have no quarrel with you, Grandmaster Nikis of the Tenno." Sara's body bowed, a formal kowtow to an _equal! _"Sara begged me to save her adopted mother and I have. Tenno Lis will not be pleased, but she will be alive and whole."

"And Sara?" Nikis demanded. "She is not human."

"No." The other replied. "She is unique and needed. You have my word that I will release her. But Eliza does not deserve to suffer any longer. I can aid her and I will."

"You cannot." Eliza growled and then gasped as the crown appeared on her head and started to glow. "What? No!"

"Eliza." The other begged. "Let go your burdens, my daughter. You have done so well, but this is my burden. Not yours. I must atone for my failures, for my arrogance. For-" He broke off as the crown vanished. "Lizza..."

"You are _not_ my father." Eliza's tone was ice cold now. "Cassie? Hold tight to the others." When she spoke again, it was to empty air. "Black Sheep Leader, code Zulu Omega Zulu. These coordinates."

"Lizza!" The mind within Sara begged. "Don't!"

"My father is _dead_." Eliza knelt down beside Cassie as the spider reached out to Brianna, John and Lis. "Whatever you are, you are not him." Her smile turned feral. "He only called me that when I was in trouble. Now? _You_ are!"

"I will say." A new voice heralded three forms appearing nearby. The Reverend Mother of the Clergy was furious, but the Cyberlancer who stood beside her? Lynn was ice cold. All eyes were pulled to the other one however as Hayden Tenno slowly shook his head. "All this time, I hoped and prayed Talia was wrong about what she sensed in the crown. That the idiot _hadn't_ tried to copy the _Emperor_ of all people." His Glaive appeared in his hand. "You are not the Emperor, and even if you were? His daughter rules now. Not him!"

"You really think so?" Sara's mouth curved in an ironic smile. Then everything stopped as the crown flew from Eliza's head to nestle onto Sara's. It immediately started to _glow_. "Then I guess I need to _prove_ who I am. And who _rules_."

With those quiet words, all hell broke loose.


	19. Chapter 19

**Imperator**

Brianna was reeling as the world turned golden. A shield slammed into place in front of her, between her, Cassie and John and the now unfolding drama. Nikis stood to the side with the Reverend Mother, the shade that had once been Trinity and Hayden Tenno with _another_ golden shield arcing between that group, Brianna's and the pair of mismatched beings who faced each other as small golden forms cavorted into view out of thin air. The forms were vaguely humanoid, but with long bat wings attached to their backs. Each also had long curved horns on their foreheads and thin tails that came down to oddly shaped endings. Were those _hearts_? Each had face that was unique. Each was distinct and golden, so they were clearly a creation of Orokin energy, but solid looking. Tiny. Maybe a foot tall, each. They were almost certainly some form of hard light hologram, since even _Orokin tech_ might have difficulty in creating so many disparate organic forms out of thin air and make them walk in unison so quickly. Such could be incredibly dangerous.

But...

What a minute-

WHAT were they _doing?_

Brianna felt her jaw start to fall as the tiny creatures formed a line and started to _sing! _John bit back a startled exclamation and hugged Brianna tight enough to hurt as the things started to _dance in __their__ line!_

'Hello! ma Baby,  
Hello! ma honey,  
Hello! ma ragtime gal,  
Send me a kiss by wire,  
Baby, my heart's on fire!  
If you refuse me,  
Honey, you'll lose me,  
Then you'll be left alone,  
Oh baby, telephone  
And tell me I'm your own, '

Everyone was frozen in shock. Even Nikis was clearly gaping at the line of things as they started to kick up legs in some ancient dance routine. Everyone but _Eliza_ who slowly shook her head. The cavorting creatures started to vanish.

"The girl has suffered enough." Eliza was quiet, but firm as the things continued to disappear. Nikis took aim at Sara, but she shook her head. "Don't, Grandmaster. Whoever or _what_ever this is possessing her, it has defenses on par with mine. This is _my_ fight."

"There is no need, Lizza. Ah, dang. Not even a _smile?_ The dancing imps always made you laugh as a little girl, Lizza." The voice from Sara was sad now. "And… Okay. Yes. Yes, you are right. I only ever _saw_ you when you were in trouble, Lizza. Our schedules did not mesh much otherwise. Maybe…? When was the _first time?_" He mused and then chuckled. "Oh, right. When you spilled that cart full of chocolate pudding all over the stairway and tried to slide down the _three kilometer banister_ to escape the wrath of the Senechal's maids. It took a Royal Guard in a Zephyr warframe to keep you from breaking your neck! That most _definitely _earned my attention. Two years old and already well practiced at making royal messes." Eliza jerked, but he wasn't done. "I do not blame you for doubting. If you wish, I will call you Elizabeth instead. I know I do not deserve anything from you, least of all respect. I did fail you. I failed everyone."

"Let the girl go." Eliza demanded. She made a gesture and the crown flew from Sara's head but hung in mid-air between the two. It stopped glowing and hung dull, inert. The tiny forms stopped vanishing and started to sing something _else_.

'Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?  
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth  
They say in heaven, love comes first  
We'll make heaven a place on earth  
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth!'

Eliza jerked, but then shook her head again. "Stop this! All you will do is make me angry." More of the tiny things disappeared.

"We don't want that." The voice from Sara said mildly as the now ten remaining tiny golden forms stopped singing. "Neither Sara nor I want to anger you, Elizabeth. I am just trying to prove what I remember. You will make up your own mind, you always did. But for what it is worth? I know you were angry I did not come when invited, but I _did_ listen, Elizabeth." The voice was so sad now. "I couldn't be there, but I _did_ listen to the recital where you sang that. Your first solo at age five. You made my heart all but burst when you nailed the refrain so well."

"You are _not_ my_ father!_" Eliza grated that out as the last few golden forms vanished in a rush.

"No." The other agreed and more than one of the listeners stiffened. "Technically, I am a biological backup of his memories. I am not energy form, nor am I 'possessing' the girl as you so rudely put it." Was he _chiding_ the Empress? "Elizabeth, I had to be pragmatic, but was I heartless?" He demanded. "Was I evil for its own sake?"

"He did things..." The Empress snapped. "He _helped_ Lorinos!" She shook her head. "You are not him!"

"Elizabeth, I am trying to- Oh. I making things _worse_." He paused and then Sara's eyes opened. When she spoke, it was in her own voice, scared. Sick, sad, but also firm.

"I was made to steal the Crown, Empress. I wasn't _just_ supposed to break..." Her voice cracked for a moment. "To break Amelia's will. They would never have spent such resources for a single task. I was to get into Avalon and steal the Crown first for Alad V and then for Nef Anyo when he discovered my past." Sara said with a frown. "I guess they were right? It didn't destroy me." She shook her head. "You should have killed me."

"You were a hurting little _girl_, Sara! Not a thief. And even if I _had_ been as pragmatic as my Father acted on occasion?" She paused and then scoffed. "I _was_ being that pragmatic. I was _not_ going to cross _Serene!_" Eliza retorted. "I cannot believe this!"

"I barely believe this myself." Sara said weakly. "He has stepped back, letting me talk. He says we need a neutral party. Someone who is not involved. Someone who won't make you mad." She turned to the Reverend Mother who bowed her head. "I guess the secret is out?"

"Yeah." The Clergywoman shrugged. "I am hardly neutral in this, Sara."

"I know." Sara smiled a bit forlornly. "Hence why I thought of Jenni."

"Jenni?" The Reverend Mother's face stilled and the she slowly smiled. "_He_ would not know about that, would he?"

"He says he cannot access Avalon without the Crown, I am not sure I trust him and-" Sara paused. "Why did he just _laugh?_" She asked, a bit forlornly.

"Only a _fool_ _**trusts**_ an Emperor, Sara." Eliza said very quietly. Was that a smile that curved her lips for a moment? Maybe. "Emperors and Empresses are rulers. They have to trust others to do as directed, but they cannot always be trusted themselves. They have to see the whole picture, not little slices of it. Orokin tech made it so much worse. My family could literally see _everything_. That kind of perspective is not one to engender trust. Anyway, rulers cannot act as normal people would. They cannot follow the same rules. In a ruler, honesty is often a weakness that can hurt far more than one being. Add to that? They often have to act in ways that do not benefit people. Any good ruler will try to act in ways that do the least harm, but sometimes, there are no good choices." She bowed her head. "Even when we think there are."

"I… I do not understand that. He says he understands but he hopes I never do." Sara said weakly. "He… Jenni would work, I think. Empress? You don't entirely trust her and he doesn't know her." She paused as the Reverend Mother shook her head.

"Thinking about it? No. If she appears out here, _someone_ will get records of her and realize who she was. She had too many enemies out here." The Reverend Mother said with a growl. "She is Rocky's mother now. I won't do that to either of them!"

"What about Harriet?" Eliza asked, not moving at all. The Reverend Mother stilled. "She is better. Tina helps."

"I… I haven't had the guts to look." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "Her breakdown was my fault and-"

"Are we doing the blame game?" A calm voice heralded a new woman appearing in the middle of the tableau. She wore a Clergy habit, but her face as calm. Almost empty. Then she smiled. It didn't look quite right on her face, as if she had forgotten how to do it. "Do you really want to play that game with me, Reverend Mother?"

"No, Sister Harriet, I don't." The much, much older Clergywoman said with an utterly fake sigh. "I assume you have been briefed?"

"Yes and we have been following this. This situation is weird even for us." Harriet shook her head as she turned to Sara and then the Empress. "Sara, Empress." She nodded to both. "I think we need to know what happened to Sara."

"It will hurt her and Brianna Executor." The male voice from Sara did not throw Harriet for a loop. "Once, I would have done it without thinking, but now? My own daughter needs my help and Sara is Elizabeth's only chance so I have no intention of harming Sara or letting anyone _else_ do so." _That_ was pure warning.

"What?" That came from a number of people.

"And the Tenno position in this?" Harriet eyed the tense group who stood nearby. Hayden looked blank. Lynn was fuming. Nikis was cold.

"This is wrong!" Lynn snapped. Nikis nodded, but Hayden did not react. Lynn glared at the First Tenno. "How can you condone this? What you did before, yes, I can see your pragmatism, but this-" She broke off as Hayden held up a hand.

"You have every right to be angry with me, Lybb but you do not have all the information." Hayden said very quietly. "No one does but me. Talia swore me to silence." He nodded to Sara who nodded back.

"I can release you from that oath, First Tenno." The other within Sara said but Eliza growled.

"No, you _can't_!" The Empress snapped. "Either you are an _imposter_ or you are a _copy_, either way, you do not have the authority!"

"You are wrong, dear Elizabeth." The other said as the crown flew back to Sara's head and started to glow again! "There is _one_ protocol that you never learned. One that I made _damn_ sure whoever this _thing_ latched onto next would _never_ learn!" The voice spoke something in an ancient language and Eliza jerked, her face slackening in shock as the crown glowed brighter on Sara's head.

"Stop!" Eliza begged. "You will hurt her!"

"No, I won't." The other replied. Sara's head turned to Nikis who stood wary. "Grandmaster Nikis, I crave a boon." Nikis went utterly still. "There is _one_ time when an Emperor may beg and I do so now. My daughter needs help and will not ask it. Not for herself. I do not command Tenno. Elizabeth's mother's madness to the contrary, I know better to enslave Tenno. I ask. I _beg_. We need neutral ground and explanations must be made. There is neutral ground available on Mars." Brianna jerked. He didn't mean her tower, did he? Sara's head turned to her and Sara's face creased in a smile. "You and Kaitlin Executor are what Orokin were always supposed to be, Brianna Executor. Benevolent, merciful. Guiding when needed. Not slavemasters. I am sure that whatever you did to Lorinos and Elizabeth _is_ doing to him is perfectly justified, but we need to end this. Lorinos' evil had one minor benefit. I can save Elizabeth and I must."

"'Save' her?" More than one person exclaimed as Brianna slowly shook her head.

"I am about to prove to Elizabeth that I _am_ who I say I am." The other said sadly. "Elizabeth… It is okay. The damage is _not_ irreparable. Not yet. You _can_ _take it off!_" Eliza froze solid. There was no other word for how still she became. When she finally moved, Eliza shook her head savagely but Sara stepped forward, passing right through the insanely powerful shields in between them as if they did not exist.

"Damage?" Brianna said weakly, Lynn chorusing that with her as Sara took the frozen Empress in her arms and hugged her gently.

"Talia didn't know." The male voice was cracking. "_No one_ knew until so much later! No one! By then, it was part of our heritage, our burden. Our shame. Our deaths. Elizabeth, it is _okay!_ I found a way! Not a nice way, but I found a way! Your daughters will not suffer my fate _or_ yours. They will _not_."

"The... The Crown? Oh my _god._" Nikis actually sounded shaken and started forward but Hayden shook his head.

"We cannot interfere." Hayden said firmly and Nikis stilled. "This does not concern us except for Sara. From her words? Sara knows, Nikis. What is more? She accepts it. I made a horrible mistake so many centuries ago and it has recently bitten me as hard as I feared it would." He bowed to Lynn who stared at him. "But this? This was not our doing. Talia had no idea. She needed a symbol, a powerful symbol and she made one with our help. Perhaps with our aid, the Empress can undo this."

"We _will_ need your aid, First Tenno, Cyberlancer Lynn, Grandmaster Nikis." The mind inhabiting Sara said sadly. "Too much knowledge and infrastructure has been lost. I have no wish to harm Sara. Even knowing her for such a short time, she is dear to me. She swore to aid me when we talked just a few minutes ago and I explained, but she is not free to act. She is not a true adult yet according to Tenno tradition, although her Trials are things of horrific legend. There are too many who hunt her now. Who covet her for many reasons. I did not understand when I first touched her what she was meant for but now? She can help Elizabeth." Sara's face turned to Harriet and the Reverend Mother. "And _we_ will aid _you_ as well." That was both firm and royal.

Sara gave Eliza a hug and when she spoke again, it was in her own voice. She was crying! "I am sorry! I am so sorry, Empress Eliza! I didn't know!"

"No one knows." Eliza said weakly. "No one. Not even Chirurgeon has guessed. Just me." She stared at Sara. "I… This cannot be, can it?" She asked weakly. "How?"

"The formula that Kaitlin Executor recreated was intended to save lives." The male voice from Sara said gently as Sara's body hugged Eliza again. "She was guided into studying that. By my parents and then, by me. She was and is a genius when it came to biotech, but her people skills suffered as a result of her focus. Not that uncommon."

"What does this have to do with Sara?" The Reverend Mother did not quite demand that.

"You found a cure for Sara's genetic deterioration." The voice from Sara said as her head nodded to he Reverend Mother. "But you cannot repair what was done to her prior to her birth. Kaitlin Executor's formula can. It can undo what was done to her. Make her fully human or fully Tenno." The Reverend Mother stilled but then Sara spoke again in her own voice.

"Before that, I have to help the Empress!" Sara said with a growl. Her head shook and she continued. "They won't understand!"

"Give them a chance, Sara." The male voice spoke form her mouth and again and it twisted. "None of the people here are ignorant. They will make up their own minds, but I have to try and help Elizabeth if I can. If I owe her nothing else, I owe her that for my willful blindness to what her mother did to her."

"How are you here?" Eliza demanded, shaking Sara's hands from her arms. "You cannot be here! This is not allowed!"

"I swore I would save my family from our curse, Elizabeth." The other replied and Eliza stilled. "Rules be damned, I keep my promises when I can."

"Lilly will flip right out." Eliza said weakly and the other made a soft noise of despair.

"Lilly survived?" The male voice asked, sadness warring with fear. "Maybe… Maybe there is hope for more than just you and yours then. I don't know, Elizabeth." Sara's body stepped away from Eliza and he nodded to her as the golden shields faded. "I had my time and I failed to stop what I saw coming. I failed those I loved, those I hated, those I will never know. I failed _everyone_, Elizabeth. Perhaps you will do better, Empress." Sara's body bowed to the Empress. "The crown is yours. But it does not have to be your _doom_. Not like it was mine."

The crown flew from Sara's head to Eliza's hands. She held it in her hands for a long moment, staring at it, and then with a deep sigh, laid into her head where it started to glow again.

"I want to believe." Eliza said sadly. "I do. But I can't."

"Not without far more proof, no." The voice of the other agreed. "So… Will you allow me to try and help you? Try to fix some of what I messed up? Try to deliver a _pittance_ of the penance I owe the human race in general and you in particular?" Sara's head shook. "I do not ask trust. I will ask the Tenno to guard me, and Sister Harriet to do what must be done. Brianna Executor… We will need your help as well."

"Mine?" Brianna cursed the squeak that entered her voice. She focused herself and looked at John who shrugged.

"Won't be boring." John allowed and more than one person chuckled at that.

"Oh, it most definitely won't be." The male voice speaking from Sara agreed as Sara's mouth curved into a rueful smile.

"What exactly is the Crown doing to you?" Brianna fought hard to remain respectful as she moved towards the Empress who slumped a bit. "I do want to help if I can."

"No one can." Eliza said weakly. "It is on a level that no one can sense or touch. I have looked so many places, asked so many people. No one can help me."

"You are wrong, Elizabeth." The male voice contradicted her. "There is a way, but it will not be fun. For anyone."

"What way?" Elizabeth demanded. "And no matter what? I will _not_ endanger Sara. She may have been intended as a thief, but she is not one!"

"Funny you should say that." Sara's regular voice spoke up and her eyes were twinkling. Eliza growled at her, but Sara was unrepentant. "Nef Anyo thinks the Crown is some kind of miraculous thing that will solve all of his problems. He intended Brianna to enslave me after Kaitlin's formula remade me to be able to handle the crown."

"You were not given the formula." Brianna protested, but everyone else looked away as she glanced around. "Cassie?" She demanded as the spider made a noise of consternation.

"She was hurt just a badly as Lis, Brianna." Cassie said sadly. "Every scan said the same. She is human, so how did she heal so fast and so well?"

"Sara?" Brianna begged as Sara looked at the floor. "Are you… Is she…?" She begged anyone and everyone.

"It is all right, Brianna Executor." The male voice from Sara's lips reassured her. "Sara is who she was. There is a good reason your ability did not work on her. She was supposed to be your superior. Anyo was given three samples of the formula by Lorinos, but he wasted two of them. The third? His men injected Sara with it before they delivered her to you. It saved her life."

"No!" Brianna all but screamed that as she ran to Sara who held out her hands to the distraught Orokin. "No! Not Sara!"

"It is all right, Brianna." Sara reassured her. "It wasn't the full treatment you went through and I was never alone." The look she gave Brianna and Cassie was warm. "Thank you. _Both_ of you."

"We _cannot_ let Nef Anyo get away with this!" Brianna snarled as she hugged Sara tight. She stilled as the male voice from Sara chuckled. Eliza joined it and then _both_ royals chorused.

"Oh, we most _certainly_ will _not!_"

* * *

**Hello Ma Baby**, by Arthur Collins

**Heaven Is A Place On Earth** Belinda Carlise


	20. Chapter 20

**Changes**

The virtual environment felt crowded, but no one pressed close. No one dared.

The Empress lay on the golden table, her stern face relaxed in sleep. The man who stood beside her was composed of eerie looking green and gold energy. His hands were calm and assured as they touched her scalp and golden energy flared from several of his fingers. His concentration was absolute, but no one seemed to dare to breathe. Sara stood beside the table, her face worried as the Crown of Orokin glowed on her head. Finally, the man stepped back and smiled a bit sadly as he nodded to Sara.

"It is done, the damage is repaired." He held out his hands to Sara who bowed her head and let him take the crown from her head. "And now… To disarm this horrible thing." He smiled as he took the crown from Sara's head and then patted her head as energy flared around the crown. "Are you all right?"

"Like I can be any other way with so many people watching me like hawks?" Sara managed humor and the man smiled at her. She shook her head. "It didn't tickle, but I didn't feel any of the tendrils you described. So I guess it wasn't on long enough?"

"You know better, Sara. No one saw or felt the initial breaks in the psyche. Not Tenno, not Orokin, no one. The pain is the least of the hurts that are caused." The not-quite-an-energy form said mildly. Sara nodded, her face stony. She knelt and laid her head under his hand. A touch and she relaxed. "Not that they will take my word for it either, but I better make sure." He stage whispered to her. "If just to make sure Lis doesn't flay me."

"She is not happy with you, no." Sara smiled a bit sadly. "Or with me." Her face fell.

"She loves you and wanted to help you. She would have hurt herself. What we did angered her and she will punish you, but she will be alive to do so." The man replied as he withdrew his hand. "I can find no damage." He said to everyone. "Thank god."

"You know we will not take your word for that." Iriana pushed forward and no one stopped her as she moved to stand between Sara and the table. The energy form nodded to the very unhappy Healer. The revelations of what had happened to Sara were just the tip of the iceberg. Kaitlin Executor was not awake and might not wake again. Brianna Executor was hurting, Cassie was hurting, _everyone_ was hurting. Now, more than ever.

"I know, Healer." The one time Emperor of Orokin said quietly as he moved aside to let her stand between him and Sara. "You would be a fool to take my word and from everything I have heard? You are not one."

He turned to the others and nodded to a pair of female forms who wore golden gowns in front of the group. They were surrounded by _ten_ Prime warframes. Two more stood by the table and both of _those _had weapons drawn. The Royal Guard were _not_ happy. It had taken a direct request from Eliza to the shade of Hayden Tenno to keep them from attacking the energy form being when he had shown himself to them. What the one time Emperor had done was forbidden, for very good reason. Secession wars were not fun at all! None of them spoke to him, none even acknowledged his presence! They obeyed Hayden's wish to let the being heal Eliza, but now? The tension was skyrocketing.

"The crown did damage to Eliza's mind on a very deep level." The energy being bowed to Michelle whose face was blank. "I have found and fixed the damage. She can explain further when she wakes. That will be at least a few days." He did not move as dark blue code swept from the other female to sweep over Eliza. "I can swear any oath I can think of and no one will believe me. I only ever wanted to save my family."

"You used that monster. Aided and abetted his madness. No matter what your motivations, that will not stand." Michelle was ice cold as Jesse's code swept over Eliza and retreated. "Jesse?"

"I am no Healer." Jesse said after a moment. "That said? I know the basics. I can find no tampering. We will check her thoroughly."

"We will _all_ check her thoroughly." Iriana reassured both princesses as she touched Sara's arm gently. "Sara..."

"What will be, will be, Healer." Sara smiled as she reached out and embraced Iriana. "This needs to be done. Lis won't be happy, but I will see her and you again."

"That I do swear." The energy form said firmly.

"Sara! No!" Iriana tried to hold Sara but the girl shifted a bit and her form wavered. One moment, it was beside Iriana, the next. It was beside the former Emperor. No one moved.

"This needs to be done." Sara said with a growl. "If I don't do it, Anyo will continue trying for the Crown. Any Corpus who finds out I exist will continue to try to use me, either for Bek's madness or Anyo's. It doesn't matter. The result will be the same." Her face fell. "Iriana, please? I love you and Mishka. I love Rocky. So many people have fought over me, bled over me… died over me." Sara's face turned desolate. "Ma killed thousands when she first found me being hurt. Then she got killed. She came back, but… Now Jane has died for me. Lis has died _twice_ for me!" Sara shook her head firmly. "That ends now."

"Sara." The energy form said mildly. "You are not to blame for what has happened. You cannot blame people for loving you. For wanting to help you." He shook his head as Sara bowed hers. "I ask this one final time, Sara of the Tenno. Is this truly what you wish?"

"What I truly want, I can never have." Sara said sadly as she moved to stand beside him. "Serene and my mother are dead."

"Gone. Not dead. Not yet." The Emperor corrected her gently and Sara stilled. He smiled at her. "I may not be Emperor anymore, but I still have sources, Sara." Sara stared at him and he shook his head. "They are not coming back, Sara. They can't. Not after everything."

"I know." Sara slumped a bit. "But… they are alive?" She begged and he nodded.

"And together." The Emperor reassured her. "Far out of our reach." He held out the crown to Michelle and froze as several Royal Guard warframes aimed weapons at him. They were _not_ happy. "The lock has been fused. It will never open again. Never bleed energy out to harm anyone wearing this." He said quietly. "The only beings now able to access the database will be the Guardians of the Dead. I hate to say it, but _good riddance_."

"You abandon your duty." Nikis was ice cold as he stepped forward, his Ether Reaper scythe in hand.

"A duty I _failed!_" The former Emperor snapped right back. "That my entire _family_ failed!" He shook his head. "How many times did my ancestors meddle with that?" He demanded. "How many times did they muck about with things that they had no _right_ to play with? Elizabeth's mother was the worst, but just _barely!_ And you of all people know it!" He met Nikis' fury with his own. "Yes, I broke any number of laws. Yes, I am about to abandon my family's duty to the database and you know what? You can _have_ it!" He threw the crown at Nikis!

A horrified gasp swept he entire assemblage as Nikis hit the flying metal thing with his scythe and it flew back at the former Emperor. The energy form stood there as it approached him and let it hit him! He didn't bother to catch it as it fell. Sara caught it instead.

"You are wrong." Sara said as the Crown started to glow in her hands. The former Emperor stared at her and she smiled a bit forlornly. "The Empress will not abandon her duty. She may not be dying by inches anymore, but she will not abandon her duty to _humanity_. For every one of your family who acted as her mother did, there were others who acted as _she_ did. With honor and integrity." She shook her head. "Eliza is a very good role model for someone like me. Someone torn between two paths."

"That she is." One of the Royal Guard finally spoke and the former Emperor stilled as a golden Nova Prime warframe stepped up to Sara and laid her hand on Sara's shoulder. "Sara." She all but begged and Sara shook her head.

"Please try to keep Lis from going totally bananas, Lilly?" Sara asked. "I know it is hard job, but Tenno do not get easy ones, do you?" She bowed her head. "I hurt so many. Failed so many. As Tenno, you all protected me and I have nothing but gratitude for you. But they won't stop, Lilly. As long as my DNA is the key to those towers or this..." She nodded to the crown her hands. "...the Corpus will not stop." She slumped. "I have to stop this. I have to."

"Sara, this will hurt you." The former Emperor warned. "My family's failures are not your fault. You still have a choice. Please."_ He _begged her!

"I have made my choice." Sara said very quietly and started walking. Everyone moved out of her way as Lilly kept pace with her. She walked to where Michelle stood, the Princess' iron visage cracking for a moment and pain showing in her eyes. Sara bent to one knee and extended the crown to Michelle. "For the crime of theft, I surrender myself to Orokin authority."

"You did not steal that." Michelle did not take the crown!

"I beg to differ." Sara replied. "I had a good reason. The Empress needed help. That said, I took it without permission. That sort of defines the word 'stealing' does it not?" More than one person shook their heads at her calm words. "This will hurt a number of people, Lis in particular. But it has to be done. I am too dangerous. I cannot allow myself to be used for this, Princess." She bowed her head further. "The Crown may no longer be access to the raw power of the database, but it is _still_ an incredibly powerful symbol. One that must _never_ fall into Corpus hands."

She extended the crown further towards Michelle who reached out with slow hands to take it. Only after Michelle took the crown did Sara rise and retreat a step. She bowed to the Princess.

"Oh Sara." Michelle bowed her head as a tear fell. "You crazy girl."

"Yes, Ma'am." Sara nodded. "I await Orokin justice."

"Don't-" Michelle swallowed hard and her face shifted to blank, but underneath lay barely controlled rage. "Justice is blind, Sara! You know this!"

"I know." Sara said softly. Lilly laid her hand back on Sara's shoulder. "I accept it."

"I don't!" Michelle snapped. "And neither will my mother!" Jesse nodded, her own face angry. "Sara, you have done nothing but be abused! We will not cast you out for this! We cannot cast you out for this!"

"You must." Sara said weakly. "I transgressed. I must-" She gasped as pain flared and Lilly's hand was suddenly firm, the only thing holding her up. "I-"

"Sara!" More than one person was shouting as the pain grabbed Sara and pulled her in. Many colors of pain.

Then it wasn't just the pain. Golden energy, green energy, blue energy and many other colors of energy swept around Sara as the pain increased exponentially. The energy tried to soothe her but the pain would not be denied. Sara could do nothing but weep as her own energy slowly ebbed and faded. Not entirely, but far below Tenno levels of power. She was human again, drowning and-

* * *

Reality

Sara screamed as she bolted upright on the bed.

"Easy!" More than one person exclaimed as Sara fought for control. Two hands found hers and both held tight as she squeezed as hard as she could. Not very. She could do nothing but shudder as the pain faded to horrific memory. Sara felt wet, but oddly comfortable. After a moment of deep breaths, she managed words.

"Did-? Did it work?" She blurted out and then fought for breath. She was exhausted. Just the _memory_ hurt.

"Easy, Sara." The voice! A warm hand touched Sara's forehead and she gasped as the remnants of pain faded. She looked up at the Reverend Mother of the Clergy through eyes that were suddenly blurry.

"Mom?" Sara begged as several hands gently laid her back on the bed.

"Easy." The Reverend Mother all but crooned that as softness suffused Sara's whole being and she was floating. Was the Reverend Mother crying? "I do not feel worthy of this, Sara. Iriana would have kept you safe. I can't promise that!"

"Iriana is not alone." Sara said weakly as warm darkness surrounded her. She was falling asleep, but she was not afraid. Not now. "You… do not… deserve… to… be alone, Mom." She sighed the last words out as consciousness fled.

* * *

Aboard a very special ship

"Yes I do." The Reverend Mother did not let go of Sara's hand as the now fully human girl relaxed into sleep. She did not move as the other being who had been holding Sara's hand withdrew and a golden transparent form stepped forward. She did not move as golden computer code swept around Sara, checking her thoroughly. Only when it withdrew did she look up into the Lynn's sad eyes and all but croak a word. "_Why?_"

A huge welter of questions was buried in that one word. Why had they not stopped her? Why had they not told the Reverend Mother before she had come aboard and let her stop Sara before the formula had been injected? Why had they even let her aboard? Either of them! Why-

All of her questions were stilled as a holographic lavender kavat jumped up to sit on the bed beside Sara. The Queen of Cats looked at the Reverend Mother and started to groom herself. The kavat's eyes were sad.

_Who are we to deny a daughter's love for her mother?_ Liriel asked. _You wronged me. I understand why you did what you did but the feelings will not go away. _

"Nor should they." The Reverend Mother shook her head as Lynn stepped back and Harriet stepped forward. The Clergywoman had arrived with the Reverend Mother and had helped great deal during Sara's ordeal. "I wronged you, my errors killed several of your kittens and I was willing to pay."

_You will._ Liriel replied and the Reverend Mother stilled. _Relax._ The Queen of Cats said with a snap. **I**_ do not kill kittens._ She laid a holographic paw against Sara's cheek and the girl murmured in her sleep. _Yours is older, but no less hurt than mine were. That she survived at all is a miracle. _Liriel shook her head. _What I will demand, you will not want to give._

"There is only one reason you would have asked for me to come in person. Harriet and I are both a bit distant from the rest of the Clergy. We can both keep secrets. You will want me to stop the war before it is resolved the way _I_ want it to be. With Nef Anyo's still beating heart gripped in my _hand._" The Reverend Mother said softly. Liriel and Lynn both nodded. "And you either will not or cannot say why."

"We can say that Nef Anyo will not enjoy the fruits of his labors." Lynn replied. "Especially now that men under his command blatantly attacked your daughter." She actually shuddered. "I don't know what your Corporate guidelines say about such, but I bet it isn't pretty."

"I..." The Reverend Mother swallowed hard. "It didn't sink in until now. She cannot go back, can she? Ever? She gave it all up to be with me?" She slumped a bit. "I can't let her do that! I am lost! She is not!"

"It is not your choice." Lynn warned. "And pushing Sara is likely to get painful." She looked at Harriet whose face was set. "Sister Harriet? What does the Clergy think of this?"

"It will be interesting." Harriet said in a monotone but then smiled as the Reverend Mother groaned. "As with any real life situation, there are upsides and downsides. Most of us are breathing a heartfelt sigh of relief, however." Everyone stared at her and she shook her head. "You see, there were those within the Corpus who were pressing the Reverend Mother to have a child. 'To set the proper example for the rest of the Company'. It never ended well for those." She said dryly as Lynn stared from one Clergywoman to the other in horror.

_How many did she kill?_ Liriel inquired carefully.

"None." Harriet admitted. "Barely. She put one particularly officious idiot into intensive care, but most she just had us throw out."

"I shouldn't have done that." The Reverend Mother said very quietly. "She meant well, no matter her manner. She didn't _mean_ anything by it. She really thought she was trying to help me but I wasn't ready." She slumped. "I am _not_ ready!"

"Ready or not, here she comes." Lynn smiled at the bed where Sara lay sleeping. "Sara made her choice, now we have to live with it. The good news? If anyone and I do mean _**anyone**_ offers her the _**slightest**_ offense now? If they are _lucky_, they will die."

"And the formula will have burned out the biological memories of Eliza's father." The Reverend Mother said with a frown. "That is good but we will need to keep an eye on her. Such power is not to be handled lightly." She slumped a bit and then straightened. "You ask me to end the war with Anyo?"

"Yes. There is a good reason that it needs to end." Lynn said but then she smiled. "But you will like _how_."

"Oh?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Penance**

A day later

The holographic meeting was very quiet. No one seemed to dare to move, to breathe as the Reverend Mother appeared in the hall. She was not alone! A young girl in Corpus attire stood beside her, face grave. There was something similar about the pair. They looked nothing alike, but they stood the same way!

"Reverend Mother." The chairman was shaking his head. "Nef Anyo is… indisposed."

More than one of the holographic Board Members stilled at that, but the Reverend Mother smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was mirrored by the girl beside her!

"I know." The Clergywoman said calmly and everyone goggled at her. "I didn't do it. I would have just killed him." The girl beside her grimaced, just aa little, but did not speak. "Before we go any further, I need to explain a few things. Nef Anyo was seeking an ancient Orokin relic, the Crown of Orokin. He apparently thought that offering such to me would stop my vengeance. It would not have."

"The… Crown?" The Chairman asked, stunned.

"Before anyone gets any _more_ stupid ideas, spread this far and wide!" The Clergywoman said firmly. "The Crown of Orokin was a symbol of the Royal Family of Orokin. It was bonded to their genetics. Theirs. No one else's. Just like all Orokin tech, it only served its masters. Anyone else trying to use it died. Period."

"There are many legends about that Crown." One of the others spoke up. The Reverend Mother nodded and he eyed her. "I assume you know them."

"All of them, yes. And as far as we have been able to determine, all of the stories are lies." The Reverend Mother declared. "The Crown was a symbol, a powerful one to be sure but _only_ a symbol. It did not grant wishes, heal, or kill anyone who did not handle it. It _did_ kill anyone who picked it up if they were not the right people."

"And the woman?" Anyo's strained face appeared in a hologram nearby and everyone stared at him in shock. He looked awful. Worse than usual. "There was a woman! She had it!" A sudden hubbub was silenced as the Reverend Mother spoke.

"If you or anyone in your employ_ ever_ touches my daughter again, Nef Anyo, I will not humiliate you as you have been. I will not make your body rebel as it has." More than one hologram stilled as Anyo's face seemed to turn a shade of green. "I will kill you. Not your armies, not your fleets, not your proxies. _You._" Not a threat, a promise. The Reverend Mother laid an arm over the girl's shoulders and everyone stilled. "That goes for anyone and _everyone_. You are not the only one who can hire people with skills, Nef Anyo. I had to pay a lot of money to cover the reparation costs of you taking my daughter from her protection. _Attacking_ the _Voices! _You idiot! You angered _everyone!_"

"There was a Tenno!" Anyo tried again even as several of the others started muttering angrily.

"You of all people know that what is seen is not always the truth." The Reverend Mother snapped right back. "But yes. There was a Tenno in a warframe protecting the Voices' safehouse. You have no _idea_ the favors I had to call in, or the reparation I had to _pay_ when your men tore that warframe apart to attack the Voices. You have no _idea_ how many people want my head right now because _you_ had to be an idiot." She shook her head. "Don't worry. I told them who actually sent the goons and _where you are_." At that, Anyo actually stilled. "You can expect to see a _lot_ of Tenno around Venus shortly. They are not happy with you."

"There was a woman! She had it!" Nef Anyo was all but frothing at the mouth and the Reverend Mother sighed. "Tell me where it is! Where is the Crown!"

"_This_ crown?" The girl asked as a hologram of Eliza appeared beside her in her gown and crown. The girl made a gesture and the hologram started to arc in a dance that could only be described as 'lewd'.

"Sara." The Reverend Mother said in a very mild tone as every single Board Member gawked at her. The girl jerked upright and the hologram vanished. The gaze the Clergywoman leveled on Sara had the girl wilting. "Nef Anyo? You hurt my daughter, killed her protectors. Sara is a very smart and capable young woman who does not _want_ to hurt people. She made an exception for you. Making you lose control of your rectal muscles was a bit much, but I can _totally_ understand. I almost wish I had been able to _watch_ when they opened your armor to try and get to the damage to fix it. That said? She is not like me." Her voice dropped to a very dangerous whisper. "Be _very_ glad of that."

"I… She didn't do it!" Anyo protested. "She did… Other things!"

"Did she?" The Clergywoman turned to Sara who jerked again. "What 'things'?" She inquired. Her barely interested tone had several of the holograms flinching.

"I um… He had the guy who hurt Lis before, Mom." Sara said very softly. "She was only protecting _me!_ I am _not_ that Priosa brat!" Truth. She was not anymore and no amount of DNA sniffing would ever find any traces of Amelia Priosa or Serene's DNA in hers.

"What did you do?" The Reverend Mother inquired.

"She turned into energy, hit him and then beat him to death!" Anyo snapped. "She is Tenno or something!"

"Still playing with holograms, Sara?" The Reverend Mother asked. "But… beating him? As in, with your _fists?_" She shook her head as Sara nodded, face still downcast. "I see. I will come up with a suitable penance for you, Sara for physically striking another. As for that pitiful excuse for a man? I probably would have done far worse myself, but hitting people with fists is _gauche_."

"But… but… but… She was _asleep!_" Anyo all but begged.

"And _you_ are an _idiot!_" The Reverend Mother was losing patience and more than one person looked worried. "My daughter is darn good at making things look real. She wants to make holo movies, I think?" She looked at Sara who nodded with a tiny smile. "But that is for later. For right now? I declared 'war to the knife' and I am the only one who can take the knife back. The Grineer are moving to take advantage of our lapses in security. Our Company is threatened by our conflict and while I _do_ still wish your heart in my hand so you can watch while it stops beating, I am held to a higher standard than _you_." Anyo smiled, but then she continued. "I am biased, _you_ are biased, so… I declare _Frohd Bek_ to be our negotiator to end hostilities."

"_What?_" That came from every single hologram. Bek was loudest. Then again, he did not like the Clergy and they reciprocated.

"He will charge a hefty fee of course, but _he_ can be trusted to be neutral in this." The Reverend Mother snarled as Anyo goggled at her. "Or you you _really_ want to face_ my_ idea of penance? It will involve _fire_." From the look in her eyes? She wanted him to pick that option.

"Um... His." Anyo said with a large swallow.

"_Finally!_ I knew even _you_ do something _smart _eventually." The Reverend Mother said with a grim smile as she held up a hand and a knife appeared in a shimmer of blue. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as it vanished. But then she speared Anyo's hologram with a finger. "Do not think this is ended. You cost the Company a great deal and you very nearly killed my daughter with your madness. I _will_ exact penance from you. Not today, but soon."

"We healed her!" Anyo started, but the Clergywoman cut him off again.

"Barely. The formula didn't work." Everyone looked confused as Sara bowed her head. "And again, you cost me far more than you could ever imagine to get her healed. He lied, Nef Anyo. I know you have read our histories. You know better than to trust anyone with gold skin! You _know_ better!"

"There was an Orokin?" The Chairman asked. "Another?"

The Tenno battles against Sentients on the moon had drawn all kinds of attention. Ballis' appearance had shocked a whole lot of people. Few knew the whole truth. Those few mostly wished they knew less.

"Another liar, yes. He called himself Lorinos Orokin, but also Prince Robert and at least three other aliases that we have discovered. Probably more." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply. "If you wish to serve one of them and give someone _else_ all of your Profits, maybe we can find him." Not very likely considering where Eliza had stashed him. Her smile was cold now. "Is that what you wish?"

"_No!_" Came from _everyone_, including Anyo!

"We have other reports of Orokin around the system. Two that are halfway verified." The Reverend Mother said into the silence that fell. "One may or may not be on Earth, in a Tower there. But which ruin or how many men and proxies will we lose looking is another story. There were reports of another on one of Anyo's ships, but they were vague and garbled. If that was one, she vanished with the ship before we could intercept it. Pity. I would have liked to interrogate her." Anyo swallowed as her gaze landed on him. "I personally would _love_ to know where you got all these new assets from, Nef Anyo. Are _you_ working with that female Orokin instead of our Company?" She inquired coolly.

Holograms could not shy away from people, but several of the board members seemed to want to shift away from Nef Anyo.

"Um..." Anyo started to speak and shut his mouth. "No. I am not."

"I hope you do not expect us to take your word for that." The Reverend Mother's tone might have frozen a bonfire.

"That will be discussed." The Chairman was not happy with Nef Anyo either it seemed. He turned to look at Sara who met his gaze. "Your daughter is well?"

"As well as can be expected. She will recover fully in time." The Reverend Mother laid her arm around Sara's shoulder's again. "I hid her for fear of what the Company would do. I never expected to take this role, but I was needed. Now? I make enemies and they will try to take any advantage if they can. I will submit Sara to any scrutiny you wish, but her safety is my priority. She joined the Voices to make a difference after I took up this role and she will wish to find such a role but not with them. That nearly got her killed. Such will not happen again. _Any_ attack on her will be considered an attack on _me_. Physical or otherwise."

That was pure warning and every single Board member nodded. No one with any brains attacked the Reverend Mother. At least, no openly. People would attack Sara, just as they attacked the Reverend Mother, but with the full weight of the Clergy _and_ the Special Forces backing her up? Any such would fail not even counting the _other_ backup that the Reverend Mother was seeking.

"Then, we will adjourn so that Board Member Bek can start the proceedings for ending the conflict between the Clergy and Nef Anyo." The Chairman looked around. "Unless there are any objections?" No one spoke, so he nodded and then smiled at Sara. "For what little it seems to be worth these days, welcome to the Company, Sara."

All of the others vanished but Frohd Bek and Anyo who seemed at a loss for words. Bek nodded to the Reverend Mother. "I will start the paperwork. However,..." The glare he leveled on Anyo might have ignited an ice cube. "He has far more assets than we thought." The Reverend Mother inclined her head to him. "Seventy percent of the fee will be paid by him."

"_WHAT?_" Anyo demanded. "She attacked me!"

"_**After**_ _you_ attacked something that must never be touched!" Bek snarled. "And that is leaving aside this whole most recent mess. "Hmmm..." He mused, looking at Sara who stiffened. "Do you wish recompense?" She shook her head. "Why not?"

"This is hurting the Company. Lessening our Profits." Sara said sadly. "I serve the Machine. I wanted to stay with my mom, but then… She took the role and I… I couldn't."

"Now you can." Was Bek being kind? Or was he just trying to stay on the Reverend Mother's good side? Hard to say. "I will be in touch, Reverend Mother. Profit numbs the feeling."

His holo winked out and Anyo opened his mouth but before he could speak, _Sara_ did.

"We know what happened. We know _why_ it happened. The truth must never be known." Sara said in a voice of pure iron. "If you push this, you won't have to worry about your Void or your Profits, because even energy forms can _die_." Anyo stilled and Sara smiled coldly. "And yes, we know what you did to him. We know _why_ and we will never forget."

"Can she help him?" Anyo's words were soft, almost inaudible.

"I don't know." The Reverend Mother said with a growl. "I did not know any of your reasons until yesterday! If you had just _asked!_ None of this would have happened! I serve the Company! I _protect_ the Company and yes, even _you!_" She snarled that as Sara wrapped an arm around her. "You might deserve that, he _didn't!_ Of all the _stupid_... You had to know he was lying! You had to!"

"Even if she can, he may not be able to return." Sara warned. "What you did _will_ have long term consequences even if she _can_ help him. She will try. That is just who she is. But this… Damn, it, why didn't you ask! None of this had to happen. None of this! Lissandra, me, this whole _war_… _None_ of it!"

"I thought Lissandra could save him." For a bare moment, humanity shone in Nef Anyo's face. "And then, I prayed the Crown could. I am sorry, Sara."

"I don't believe you!" Sara snapped. "We will do what we can, but do not expect trust. Ever!"

The visage of humanity faded and Nef Anyo nodded. "The Void calls us all, some more than others. You will heed its call one day."

"Not anytime soon." The Reverend Mother cut the connection and the virtual world faded to golden walls. She shook her head as she eyed the hovering chair that Brianna had confined Sara in for the foreseeable future even thought the girl protested she could walk fine. She was healed, but Brianna was taking _no_ chances. Especially now.

"Mom." Sara said weakly. "I… I don't want to feel sorry for him. I don't!"

"No one says you have to. I don't. Anyo did what he did. Let go of the rage, Sara." The Reverend Mother said as she started for the door and Sara followed in her chair. "Let the past stay in the past. You have a future. I didn't want to burden you with my horrors, but you insisted."

"You are not alone, Mom." Sara said firmly as the door opened and three forms all but hurtled in. Sara caught the tiny kavat as it launched itself at her lap, missed and gave a screech of fear as it skittered off an armrest. "Whoa there, Iso! My lap is far more comfortable than the metal." She set him in her lap and started to pet. She smiled as the kitten subsided in her lap, her instinctive petting soothed her and him.

_Mistress! __I don't like leaving you alone!_ The tiny kavat protested. _I don't understand why you had to do this alone!_

"It is a human thing, Iso. They do not always make a lot of sense. If _any_." The Reverend Mother reached down to scratch behind the kitten's ears and he arced in pleasure. "She came to no hurt, but Brianna wanted to see you again, Sara."

"Ah, not _another_ brainscan!" Sara groaned, but did not resist as the Nova Prime warframe that had followed the kitten to her side moved to push her chair. "Lilly!"

"Lis can't come back for a few more days, Sara." The human looking woman who had stopped just inside the door _wasn't one_. "Lilly is obeying orders. If you want to argue with Michelle _and_ Jesse, you are welcome to. I am _not_." She grinned as Sara groaned louder.

"You are _so_ much help, Karen." Sara sighed deeply but did not stop petting the kavat as Lilly pushed her through quiet golden halls. Her mother followed, shaking her head. Karen brought up the rear, her sub-machine gun at the ready even here. Spetsnatz rarely relaxed. "I… Lilly..." Her voice broke. "I looked like you asked. He is gone."

"I know, Sara." Lilly said quietly. "The man I loved died a very long time ago. But he would want me to ward you. To make sure he didn't hurt you. I would even if Michelle and Jesse hadn't commanded it. The Emperor…." She sighed and deep regret sang in her tone. "He was not always nice, but the man I knew tried to be a good man."

"He did what he could and he _did_ save Eliza." Sara said weakly. "She will not be happy when she wakes up." She made a face that everyone with visible faces shared, even the kitten!

"Which is why we are _here_ instead of Avalon. Less civilians in close proximity." Lilly said dryly as they entered a large medical ward. Half of it was closed off and guarded by _six_ Prime warframes. Eliza slept on a bed in the middle of that, warded by three drones. Many golden monitors showed her vital signs and they looked good to Sara's inexpert eye. Then Lilly turned the chair the other way and Sara wilted. Lilly murmured support as they passed the bed where Kaitlin Executor lay asleep. Nothing roused her and many feared for her, but all would ward her until there was no further hope. "Courage, Sara."

"I don't want to feel sorry for him!" Sara said with a growl. "His men killed Jane! His men killed Lis and almost killed _me!_"

"No one says you have to feel sorry for that creep, Sara." Brianna Executor stepped into view, her face sad. Her shadow came with her and she sighed. "Micah, back off! What is she going to do? Bite me?" Sara smiled and shook her head. She knew better.

"I have my orders, from my clan leader and your fiance." Micah Naramon replied as his Excalibur warframe moved to stand beside her. "I obey my orders."

"Gah!" Brianna's exclamation was so loud that several of the guards near Eliza's bed tensed, but all relaxed when nothing more happened. "You silly stubborn Tenno. Almost as stubborn as that silly Prodman!"

"Can you blame him? He said he really liked the way you-" Sara asked slyly but broke off as she was interrupted and Brianna's cheeks flamed.

"_Sara!_" Brianna, Lilly and the Reverend Mother all exclaimed. Micah just shook his head as Sara sobered. Karen did not react.

"I… I feel wrong, Brianna, but it is nothing to do with me." Sara looked to one side where a large tube of gel hung in one wall. She stared at the young human form that was composed of dingy blue energy who was ensconced within. "Any change?"

"It is too soon to tell." Brianna said sadly. "Maybe. Nikis came by and harrumphed, then left. I don't know if that is good or bad. Even if we cannot save him, do you blame _him_ for his father's actions, Sara?"

"I… No." Sara admitted. "No, I can't. Profit may numb the feeling. Greed be all for him but even Nef Anyo has to be feeling _this_ as some form of penance."

No one seemed to know what to say as they watched the energy form sleep that had once been Derf Anyo, Nef Anyo's _son_.


End file.
